


My Life's Stranger Than Yours

by AnimatedGamer



Category: Dragon Ball, Ranma 1/2
Genre: Action/Adventure, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Crossover, F/M, Gen, Martial Arts, Romantic Comedy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-21
Updated: 2019-10-21
Packaged: 2019-11-01 21:52:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 28
Words: 103,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17875523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnimatedGamer/pseuds/AnimatedGamer
Summary: A young girl with short dark hair who's a martial artist, has a short fuse and an abnormally powerful boyfriend. What happens when two girls who fit this description cross paths and get sucked into each other's special brand of weirdness? A crossover many years in the making for yours truly.





	1. Prologue: A Day In Satan City

** My Life’s Stranger Than Yours **

**_(A/N: For thousands of years (or at least 5 or 6) this has laid dormant in my mind. There’ve been many attempts to bring it out. Each one, a painful, agonizing, FAILURE. However, I think I might’ve finally hit the mark this time. Welcome to my Ranma ½/Dragon Ball Z Crossover!)_ **

_ Prologue _

“WHAT A HAUL!”

“Nabiki…please don’t say that. You sound like Happosai,” Akane deadpanned.

“Thanks little sis, that’s what I was aiming for,” Nabiki chuckled.

“To be fair, we do have a lot of bags, don’t we?” added Kasumi.

Sure enough, the Tendo sisters had a fairly large quantity of bags and boxes, courtesy of their latest shopping trip. Deciding to shake things up a little today, they opted to go a few towns over to the mall in a place called Satan City instead of the usual place in Nerima. They’d long since left the mall and were making plans to head back home.

“With this much stuff, I wish Ranma was here to carry it for us,” Akane groaned.

“Well, that’s why we invited you Akane, cause you’re the strongest,” Nabiki joked. Akane was about to retort when Nabiki cut her off. “Still, it sure was nice of Mrs. Saotome to fund our trip, wouldn’t you say girls?”

Akane and Kasumi nodded.

“Before we head back, I think we should get Aunt Nodoka a gift,” Kasumi suggested.

“I agree!” exclaimed Akane.

“Ditto, but what do we get her?” asked Nabiki.

The trio paused. After a brief moment of thought, Akane’s face lit up.

“Oh! I think I we passed a bakery somewhere. Why don’t we buy her a cake.” She suggested.

Kasumi nodded in agreement, but Nabiki kept a look of contemplation on her face. “Not bad, but I think we can do better than that.”

“You just want to keep looking around the city, don’t you?” Kasumi asked.

“Well…I won’t deny that,” Nabiki replied. “After all, it’s not every day we get to take a trip to Satan City.”

“About that…what’s up with the name of this place?” Akane asked. “So far everything looks pretty normal, but a place called ‘Satan City’ doesn’t exactly sound very…visitor friendly.”

“I’ve been wondering about that myself,” said Kasumi.

Nabiki turned to her sisters with a look of disbelief, mostly aimed at Akane. “Okay…I wouldn’t expect Kasumi to be too interested in this, but Akane, I figured you’d know at least.”

“Know what?”

“This town’s named after the famous martial artist called Mr. Satan, who apparently saved them from some great disaster or something like that,” Nabiki informed them.

“Oh yeah, I remember the name now, but I don’t remember anything about a disaster,” Akane stated.

“Don’t rack your brain too hard little sister. We were just kids when all that supposedly happened.” Nabiki replied.

“Although…now that you reminded me about Mr. Satan, I kind of wish I could get the chance to meet his daughter.”

“His daughter?” said Kasumi.

“What about her?”

Akane shook her head and waved her hands defensively. “Oh it’s nothing,” she said. “It’s just…it’d be nice to meet a celebrity,” she said hurriedly. Trying to change the subject, Akane quickly added. “C’mon, let’s find that bakery and head home already, huh?”

“Okay,” Kasumi said. Nabiki nodded in agreement, but made a mental note to press Akane about this later.

[A few moments later]

After a bit of searching, the trio found the bakery they were searching for and after a moment inside, the young girls exited with yet another box in hand.

“Well that was sweet, wouldn’t you say girls?” Nabiki asked.

“You think you’re ‘punny’ don’t you?” Akane replied.

The older sisters both giggled. “Well, this was fun, but I think it’s time for us to call it a day,” said Kasumi.

Her younger sisters nodded in agreement and the trio began to make their way towards the bus stop.

[A short while later]

The Tendo girls finally arrived at the bus stop. They’d arrived a few minutes ahead of schedule so they had some time to rest on the bench. As the trio waited for the next bus to arrive, Nabiki decided to bring up an old ‘glossed over’ subject.

“So Akane, remember when you said you wanted to meet Mr. Satan’s daughter?” Nabiki asked.

“Yeah, what about it?” Akane replied with a raised eyebrow.

“You said it’d be nice to meet a celebrity, and while that’s true, wouldn’t the real celebrity be Mr. Satan himself? Why his daughter?” Nabiki asked.

“Now that you mention it, I’m curious about that myself,” Kasumi added.

Akane paused for a moment and took a small breath. “Okay…I’ve never told anyone this, but for the longest time, Mr. Satan’s daughter has been…something of an inspiration for me.”

Kasumi and Nabiki’s eyes both widened at their little sister’s declaration. “Well this is news to me,” said Kasumi.

“Yeah, you want to elaborate a little Akane?”

A small smile forming on her face, Akane looked towards the sky as she began to reminisce.

“Well…some details are still a bit fuzzy, but I remember watching the World Martial Arts Junior Division Tournament on TV, and she was the only girl there. As if that wasn’t enough, she was only 10 at the time, but every other competitor was a boy who was like, 13 or 14.”

Kasumi and Nabiki were starting to get intrigued by Akane’s tale. True neither of them were martial artists, but they could tell that those odds weren’t exactly favorable for a 10-year-old girl.

“Anyway, once the tournament began her first opponent was this one kid who looked pretty strong, and she beat him with one kick to the gut! At the time, I guess you could say I was a little awestruck,” Akane sheepishly chuckled.

“Then what happened?” Nabiki asked, a bit more franticly than expected.

“I remember she blitzed her way through all of her opponents, easily. It looked like she could’ve had a clean sweep…until the final round.”

“The final round?”

Akane nodded. “Her last opponent was this cocky 15-year-old guy, and unlike the other guys in the Tournament who just looked tough, this guy actually was tough.”

“Boy or girl, why would they let a 10-year-old fight a 15-year-old?” Kasumi asked.

Nabiki put a hand to her chin in thought. “Well…if memory serves, I think the Adult Division Tournament is 16 and up, and there are rumors that there actually didn’t use to be a Junior League at all.”

“That doesn’t seem too fair to me,” Kasumi responded. “I mean, just think of what’d happen if say a 5-year-old has to fight someone twice their age. Shouldn’t there at least be different classes between the ages?”

“Ahem!” Akane furiously cleared her throat.

“Despite the great point Kasumi made, can I finish my story please?” she asked, visibly irritated.

The two older girls quickly silenced themselves and gave Akane the floor again.

“Thank you. So anyway, her opponent was a 15-year-old guy who was almost twice her size. After they clashed with each other for a long time, it got to a point where he had her pinned down. I remember watching her trying to break free, but it looked like it was no use, which only got worse once the announcer guy started counting to 10.”

Nabiki and Kasumi were paying full attention to the story now. Though it was Akane’s memory, they could both practically see the scene playing out in their heads.

“Once the announcer was almost finished, the coolest thing I’d seen yet happened!”

_[Flashback]_

_A young 9 year old Akane was sitting cross legged on the couch, her excited eyes glued to the TV screen. On the screen, we see a 10 year old girl with blue eyes, black hair tied into small pigtails, and an eggshell colored gi being forced down on the ring tile by the knee of a tall dirty blonde haired boy._

_Akane’s eyes began to quiver as the announcer started counting up to ten. The tall boy moved his head down closer to the black-haired girl’s ear, possibly with intent to gloat, but that was his biggest mistake. Once the announcer hit 7, the small girl on the TV managed to grab the collar of her opponent’s shirt. She then summoned all the strength her legs could muster and shoved off, managing to perform a somersault that, combined with her grip on his shirt, vaulted her stunned rival off of her back and out of the ring, making her the winner._

_As the announcer made the call for the black-haired girl’s win, the scene then shifts to young Akane bouncing up and down on the sofa cheering on her new hero’s victory as she was being given a trophy and a gold medal._

_[End Flashback]_

“That moment is what motivated me as a martial artist for the longest time. After all, she’s only a year older than me, and if she could win a Tournament against a bunch of guys who were way bigger than her, then that’s the kind of martial artist I’d want to be like the most.” Akane finished.

The two older girls paused. They’d mostly known Akane as a pretty envious girl. To have her admit that there was someone she legitimately looked up to for inspiration was a little shocking, but also reassuring.

“What a great story,” Kasumi said. Nabiki could only give a small smile, but that was all she needed to show her agreement. “I think it’s great you have someone to look up to.”

“Yeah well, a lot of good it’s done me so far,” Akane replied. “Compared to the crazy things I’ve seen and been through this past year, that big Tournament win seems pretty….”

“Meh?” Nabiki suggested.

“Not the word I was looking for, but…yeah. Also, I’m sure Satan’s daughter is still pretty strong, but I doubt she has what it takes to deal with the crap I have to deal with on a regular basis.”

The sisters all giggled. The thought of anyone outside of their circle of family and foes dealing with the craziness they’ve endured made for a fun little laugh.

Nabiki checked her watch. Five minutes had passed since they’d arrived at the stop (Akane’s story certainly helped pass the time), so the bus should’ve arrived by then.

“Wonder what’s taking the bus so long,” Nabiki stated.

Before either of her sisters could respond, a loud **“BANG!”** caught all three girls’ attention.

“What was that!?” Akane exclaimed. Her answer came in the form of the sound of tires screeching accompanied by a loud siren.

“The heck’s going on?” Nabiki asked. The sisters turned towards the direction of the noise and they all froze. Good news is the bus had finally arrived. Bad news, it was coming in fast…VERY fast. The worse news is that the bus was being chased by a police car, and the ugly news is that the ‘Bang’ they heard before was a gunshot; The police in the car were firing at the bus.

“I know we’ve seen more intense things, but man, it’s not every day you get a front row seat to a police chase, huh?” said Nabiki.

“Should you really be intrigued by this!?” Akane snapped.

The impending argument was cut off by the sound of another gunshot, followed by what sounding like a loud hissing sound. The officer who fired had hit the bus in one of its tires and the large vehicle began to swerve out of control. While the driver tried desperately to get the bus back under control, it ultimately flipped over and began sliding across the road…right towards the Tendo sisters.

“Guys, let’s move it!!” Akane frantically yelled. All three sisters darted away from the bus stop just before the bus slid into the bench they were on and screeched to a halt.

As the girls dusted themselves off from their hasty exit, Nabiki had a realization. “Our stuff!”

As they turned their attention back to the crash, they saw that all of their purchases had been scattered around the ground, but otherwise, didn’t look too worse for wear.

“Oh my! Aunt Nodoka’s cake!” Kasumi added.

“There it is.” Among the scattered clothes, make up, and other miscellaneous items, the sisters quickly spotted the cake box. It was right side up, so they were hoping it hadn’t gotten completely ruined.

Kasumi quickly made her way towards the box and was about to make a reach for it when out of nowhere, she was grabbed by the wrist. Looking up, she gasped as she came face to face with a man in sunglasses holding a rifle in his free hand, accompanied by another in a mask.

“Sorry little lady, but we’re gonna need your help for a bit,” the gunman said.

Akane and Nabiki briefly paused as everything that was happening registered within them. Once everything sank in, Akane’s shock quickly became anger. Her fist clenched tight, she ran towards Kasumi and her captor, poised to attack.

“HEY!!”

The crooks turned towards the call and saw Akane rushing towards him. “Let go of my sister!” she yelled.

The masked crook simply raised his gun and aimed it at the younger girl who instantly stopped in her tracks.

“Don’t move a muscle kid,” said the gunman. “Unless of course you want your cute older sis here to get filled full of lead.” He finished as the leader turned his gun to Kasumi

“No, don’t!” Akane exclaimed.

“Akane!” called an approaching Nabiki.

“I said, don’t move!” The gunman opened fire on the two girls, hitting the area right in front of them and forcing them to move back. As Akane avoided the gunshots, she stumbled backwards and bumped into Nabiki, causing both of them to fall to the ground.

“Alright now, listen closely,” The head gunman spoke. “Your sis here is gonna help us with our getaway. Once we know we’ll be home free, you can have her back, nice and easy. Until then, you two stay put and keep quiet.” As he finished speaking, he put two fingers to his mouth and let out a loud whistle. Suddenly, two more guys with masks and guns came crawling out of the crashed vehicle.

“You two, keep an eye on these two, I gotta chat with the coppers real quick,” the boss gunman ordered. The two subordinates saluted and aimed their guns at Nabiki and a shaking Akane as their boss dragged Kasumi back to the bus.

[With Kasumi]

Kasumi’s captor was very harshly pulling on her arm. She dare not try to pull away as the other two robbers had their weapons pointed at her. Once the group arrived at the flipped over bus, they heard a voice call to them through a megaphone.

“Give up, your vehicle’s wrecked and we’ve got you cornered. Come out from behind the bus with your hands up!” The officer demanded.

“I don’t think so Captain!” said the boss gunman. “After all, you wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to this little cutie here, would you?” He proceeded to step out from behind the bus while holding Kasumi in front of him as a human shield.

The cops on the scene all visibly shuddered. ‘Where’d that young lady come from?’ the captain thought.

“Alright, here’s the deal,” the boss stated. “We’ve got a few capsule vehicles here with us. “You’re gonna let us pop em’ open, load up the money we got, and drive away and I promise we’ll let the girls go.”

“Girls? Plural?” asked the captain.

“Yeah! This chick here has two sisters that the rest of my boys are keeping company,” he informed them. “Even if this one here gets away from us, it’d sure suck for her sisters, eh Cap?” he taunted.

The Police Captain narrowed his eyes. He signaled his men to hold their fire and ordered them to listen to the demands…for the moment at least.

[A short moment later]

The criminals had managed to load two huge sacks of money onto the back of two ATV’s they uncapped, all the while leaving the cops and the Tendo sisters unable to resist lest they put Kasumi at risk. Once the boss got the AOK from his subordinates, he gave two of them the order to get moving.

As one of the vehicles drove off, the two remaining crooks slowly made their way towards the remaining bike with Kasumi still in their grasp.

“I’d like to thank you all for your cooperation,” The head crook said. The cops all narrowed their eyes at the Shades Man’s taunting.

“Buuuut, before we go….” The sunglass clad criminal’s face began heating up as his arm, whch was wrapped around Kasumi’s waist, slowly started rising up her body and his face slowly approached hers.

Upon watching the creep attempt to grope her big sister, Akane’s steadily building rage finally exploded.

“Get your filthy hands off my sister you perv!!!” Akane yelled, rushing the crooks once again.

“Akane wait!” Nabiki called out.

Though slightly startled by Akane’s shout, the boss kept his arm resting just under Kasumi’s chest, causing the startled young woman to let out a squeal.

“I thought I told you to freeze!” the masked henchman snapped back aiming his gun at Akane, who’s fierce rage quickly transformed into fear as her body froze and began to shake. “The boss hasn’t been this close to a pretty woman for almost a year, so if he wants to have his fun, y’all are gonna let him!”

“Thanks Stretch,” said the boss. “Now,” he turned his attention back to Kasumi, looking down at her chest, then back at her face. “Where were we?”

Akane’s mind and heart were racing. She couldn’t let that creep touch her sister like that, but what could she do? She couldn’t get close enough to stop him in time as long as that second creep was there with the gun…and why couldn’t she stop shaking!? She’s dealt with way scarier things than just some punks with guns right? She should be able to handle this, right? Because she was a martial artist…right!?

Akane wasn’t the only one who was shaking right now, as Nabiki was practically seething with rage that both of her sisters had been captured. As for Kasumi, her whole body was shuddering in fear as she was at a loss of what to do. She could try to break free, but then, what would happen to Akane? She obviously didn’t want to let the bad guys get their way, but she didn’t see any other option. Steeling herself, she said, “Please…I won’t resist, just let my sisters go.” Kasumi stated.

“Kasumi?”

“Sis, don’t do it!” Nabiki called.

The leader grinned. “That’s more like it, now pucker up sweetheart!”

Kasumi closed her eyes and gently stuck her lips out.

‘Kasumi’s giving up her first kiss…to save me!?’ Akane thought, tears forming in her eyes. “N-no…Kasumi…I’m sorry…this is all my fault.”

As the boss moved in to kiss her, for a split second, the light overhead dimmed, catching everyone’s attention. The boss looked up and said “Wha-?” He was cut off by a foot colliding with his face, smashing his sunglasses, and forcing him back a good distance away from Kasumi.

“Boss!” The henchman barely had time to register what happened as something that felt like a pair of slender legs wrapped around the back of his neck and flipped him over face first on the ground, knocking him out.

“I swear, you’re the type of scum I hate the most!” snapped a fierce female voice. “It’s bad enough that you rob banks, but now you’ve also resorted to harassing young girls? Absolutely disgusting.”

The boss picked himself and grabbed the shattered remains of his shades from off the ground. “Alright, who’s the dead jackass that did that!?” he shouted.

“That’d be me,” answered the female voice. All eyes turned to a girl who looked around the same age as Akane or Nabiki. A girl with short black hair, blue eyes, clad in a pink t-shirt with a larger white shirt over it, and black, tight fitting athletic pants.

“Maybe you’ve heard of me. The name’s Videl,” she introduced herself, taking a fighting stance. “And I’m the daughter of Mr. Satan!”

(To Be Continued)  
[Cue Roundabout]

**_(A/N: I really shouldn’t be writing another story right now when I’ve already got one on the backburner, but this is something I’ve been dying to get out. Ever since my early days on FF.net, I’ve always wanted to do a Ranma/DBZ crossover, but all my previous attempts have just been absolute crap, which is why you can no longer see them. However, after working on my DBZ/JL story, I think I may finally have the experience and ideas to get it done._ **

**_Speaking of that DBZ/JL story, I’ve sort of hit a block that I can’t continue from yet. My hours at work aren’t helping that either since they leave me mentally drained and not really in a writing mood [I work at a toy store and it’s November. I think you can guess how crazy things can and will get]. I’ll continue my DBZ/JL crossover at my earliest convenience, but for the moment, I’m going to try and keep my creativity flowing by trying my hand at something else for the moment._ **

**_As for this chapter, it’s just an introduction, nothing special. Although I will say, this is WAAAAAY Pre-BoG/Super on the Dragon Ball side (think Wrath of the Dragon) and the final arc in Ranma hasn’t happened yet, but Nodoka is already living with the Tendo Family. For now, I just hope the Tendo sisters feel right and everything regarding the ‘Hostage Scene’ is believable. Also, don’t worry, I wasn’t actually going to have the boss do anything M-Rated to Kasumi, this isn’t that kind of story (though Ranma and Dragon Ball both have their perverted sides). Anyway, leave a review and when we come back, we get to watch (read) Videl save the day and Akane dish out some well-deserved payback.)_ **

  1. **This story is briefly inspired by the works of Megaminoeien on Deviantart. Specifically, the ones titled “You’re One To Talk”, “Sparring Partners”, and “Double Team” (I’ll link them on my profile if I can). They were the big inspirations for my early Ranma/DBZ attempts as well.**



**PSS. Happy Belated Veteran’s Day.**

 

 

 


	2. Prologue 2: A Chance Encounter

** My Life’s Stranger Than Yours **

 

_ Prologue 2 _

All eyes turned to the heroine who appeared on the scene. The cops all looked relieved that their cavalry arrived. Nabiki was studying Videl with a curious eye. Kasumi was just grateful that she’d been released from the gunman’s grasp. Akane on the other hand was staring with wide eyes as Videl stared down the punk who had almost violated her sister.

‘N-no way!’ Akane thought. ‘Is that…really her?’ she could barely believe her eyes, or fortune that her childhood idol had appeared, out of nowhere, and saved Kasumi in one fell swoop.

Nabiki on the other hand was also admittedly impressed, but a fair amount less than Akane.

While the Gunman was still busy picking up the pieces of his shades, Videl quickly rushed Kasumi back over to her sisters.

“Are you girls okay?” she asked.

“A little shaken up, but fine,” Kasumi replied.

“Phew,” Videl exhaled. “Looks like I made it just in time.”

Akane tried to say something, but before she could, the Gunman glared back at them.

“YOU!” the gunman exclaimed. “You…BROKE MY SUNGLASSES!!” he boomed.

“I’ll break more than that if you don’t surrender!” Videl taunted, dropping back into a fighting stance.

With a yell of rage, the Boss rushed over to the girls, scooping up his gun, on the way.

“Wait here!” Videl ordered. With an efforted grunt, she launched herself into the air and attacked with a flying kick, which the boss blocked with the barrel of his gun. Still airborne, Videl flipped herself forward and struck with a midair axe kick to the crook’s head, causing him to drop to the ground again.

As Videl landed on one knee, the gunman looked up, his weapon aimed at the voung fighter and unloaded a stream of bullets at her. With a gasp, Videl quickly backflipped away from the mad gunfire and continued dashing backwards and sideways. The crook was determined to catch Videl, so he continued his barrage, following her movements.

Meanwhile, the Tendo sisters were watching the battle unfold, each with their own varying opinions of the situation. Kasumi and Akane were both hoping that Videl would make it out of the fight unscathed, while Nabiki, though also hoping for Videl’s victory, was more or less just enjoying the show.

‘I can’t believe she’s dodging all that,’ Akane thought. ‘She’s doesn’t seem as fast as Ranma, but still, it almost looks like she’s gliding,’ she noted.

After nearly a full minute, Videl still remained on the evasive. Finally, the gunman’s rifle clicked and no bullets were released. He was out of ammo. Seeing this as her chance, Videl dashed forward preparing another attack. Not ready to give up yet, the Gunman pulled a capsule out of his pocket. Popping it open, he revealed a small pistol and quickly aimed it at Videl who was still moving swiftly towards the crook.

The Tendo sisters gasped upon seeing this, though mainly Akane. ‘No! She won’t be able to dodge it!’ Akane worriedly thought. Acting almost through pure instinct, Akane rushed towards the scene picking up the first thing she could reach for.

“Akane wait!” Kasumi called. Her big sister’s plea fell on deaf ears as Akane summoned all her strength and with an efforted yell, chucked the item as hard as she could at the criminal, just as he was about to fire.

Distracted by the sound of Akane’s yell, the gunman turned in her direction only to be struck in the gut with something small but heavy. As the crook fell to the ground clutching his stomach, and dropping his gun, Videl’s used her momentum to launch into a handspring and attack with a double kick to his face, knocking him down.

As Videl landed, she quickly put her guard back up and waited for her opponent to get up. After a few seconds of him not moving, she figured he’d been knocked out. Letting out a breath, she walked over to where he’d been standing and noticed something that probably shouldn’t have been there.

“A dumbbell?” Sure enough, a small pink dumbbell was lying right where the guy had been standing before her last attack. She remembered he turned away just a second before her attack landed. Turning towards the Tendo sisters, she saw Nabiki and Kasumi right where they’d been when she left them and Akane a distance away from them panting heavily. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what had gone down.

Picking up the dumbbell, Videl made her way to Akane’s position, the girl in question, seemingly tensing up. “Did you do that?” Videl asked.

“Y-yeah…” Akane shakily answered. “He looked like he was about to shoot you with that second gun so I just…threw the first thing I grabbed as…hard as I could.”

“Wait, what second gun?” Videl replied. Akane simply pointed back at the gunman’s unconscious form and not far from where he lay was a pistol.

 “Oh!” Videl thought back to her last attack. Everything happened so fast she couldn’t remember all the details, but she did remember seeing a small puff of smoke appear from out of nowhere. Judging from Akane’s comment and the fact that she herself didn’t notice it, she deduced he must’ve had a hidden capsule somewhere.

‘But wait, if that’s true then…’ “I think you might’ve just saved me there,” Videl said.

“Oh it...it was nothing,” Akane bashfully responded.

“Nothing? How far away were you when you threw this thing?” Videl asked lifting the dumbbell. “Granted it’s not _that_ heavy, but still. You must have one heck of an arm to throw something like this so far,” Videl praised.

Akane could only chuckle in embarrassment. She was used to being praised for her incredible strength in many cases, but to have Videl of all people acknowledge her was like an old dream come true.

“Seriously what you did was pretty impressive Miss…?”

“Tendo. Akane Tendo,” she introduced herself. “And I’m…kind of a fan of yours Ms. Satan,” she added.

Now it was Videl’s turn to let out an embarrassed laugh. “No need to be formal Akane, just call me Videl.”

“R-right…no problem…Videl,” Akane said through a slight blush.

Over with Kasumi and Nabiki, the two older girls stepped out from their cover, relieved that the ‘show’ was over.

“Well, looks like little sis got her wish, huh?” said Nabiki. Kasumi nodded in agreement and went to approach Videl and Akane. She paused in her tracks when she made a sudden realization: The fight wasn’t over yet.

“Akane, behind you!” Her warning came just a second too late as Akane was barely able to grab her assailant’s arm. It did her little good as the crook still managed to aim his gun in her direction and press it right against the front of her forehead, the cold touch of the metal silencing her.

“You girls thought this was over? That you could beat me!? Well, you were all WRONG!!” yelled the gunman.

‘How the hell did he recover so quickly!?’ Videl thought.

“I’ll bet you’re wondering how I recovered so quickly, huh?”

‘Lucky guess.’

“Here’s some free advice: Always, make _extra_ sure your opponent’s not playing possum!”

Videl’s eyes quickly widened then sharply narrowed as she realized she’d been had. ‘Dammit. I got careless, and now this clown has Akane cornered.

Kasumi put her hands to her mouth in worry as Nabiki took a couple of steps backwards. The tension of the situation had both girls frozen in place, fearing for their younger sister’s safety.

Speaking of Akane, the girl in question was shaking with fear through narrowed eyes. Normally, beating someone like this would be a piece of cake, but in the position she was in now, there was no way she could think to escape without getting shot. ‘Is this it? Am I actually going to die here?’ she thought as her grip began to waver. ‘No…after all I’ve been through…I can’t die like this!’ Akane thought as memories of previous times she’s been in peril filled her mind. She realized that every time she’d been in major danger before, a certain someone always showed up to save her. Unfortunately, it didn’t seem like there’d be another ‘Nick of time’ rescue today.

“I told those cops that if they’d just let me and my boys go, nobody’d get hurt, but now…” He set his finger on the trigger. “I’m gonna make an example out of this kid!”

“No, please don’t!” Kasumi begged tensing up.

“Get away from our sister!” Nabiki demanded.

“It’s too late for that. Maybe this’ll learn ya not to mess with Bends of the ‘Flex Gang!’” Having made his proclamation with a twisted grin, Bends pressed the gun even harder against Akane’s head and finally pulled the trigger.

Akane closed her eyes as she waited for the inevitable, a single thought flooding her mind. ‘No…RANMA…!’

_CLICK!_

“Huh?” Bends pulled the trigger a second and third time. _Click! Click!_ Nothing. Glancing to the side, Bends saw the ammo clip of his pistol lying on the ground beside them. It must’ve fallen out when he dropped it earlier. His crazed grin quickly fading into a weak smile, Bends chuckled weakly and pulled the trigger once more.

_Click!_

“Hrrrraaaaaagh!!!” Deciding not to give Bends the chance to think of an escape, Akane quickly pulled his arm forward and drove her knee into his gut, forcing him to double over in pain.

As Bends briefly collected himself, he felt a pair of hands wrap around his collar. Before he could register the situation, he felt his body slam hard against the ground. So hard in fact, the ground below him cracked.

As Bends slowly sat up, looked to see a triumphantly smiling Videl accompanied by a very, _very_ angry looking Akane standing above him.

“You want to take this one?” Videl asked.

“Let’s finish this together!” Akane answered.

With almost perfect synchronization, the two girls both drove their fists into Bends’ face launching him towards the direction of the cops, a stream of blood spewing from his nose.

[A few minutes later]

Bends and his remaining partner were in the process of being carted into the police carrier as the captain moved to talk to the girls.

“Videl, you’ve done it again. If not for you, that rapscallion would’ve been long gone by now,” he praised.

“Well…I can’t take all the credit for this one,” Videl said turning to Akane. “If not for your great aim, he’d have probably got me and escaped.”

“L-like I said, it was nothing,” Akane replied. “He just got what was coming to him for messing with us.”

“Nonsense, young lady,” interjected the Captain. “If Videl says you deserve praise for your hand in this, then by Jove, that’s good enough for me,” he finished, causing Akane to blush.

“Captain!” called one of the officers. “We’ve got the Flex Gang’s boss, but two more suspects are unaccounted for,” he informed him with a salute.

“Oh yeah, weren’t there two other guys?” Nabiki recalled.

Videl grinned. “I wouldn’t worry about them.”

“How come?” asked Kasumi.

Videl pointed to the side of the police carrier and surely enough, the two other crooks from earlier where there, all tied up with their getaway bike in a wreck.

“Where did they come from!?” Akane exclaimed.

“My partner,” Videl answered.

“What partner?” asked Nabiki.

“My partner who couldn’t stay right now, but also _really_ needs to work on his timing!” she said loudly emphasizing the last bit.

Though tempted to press Videl about her ‘partner’, she decided to drop it for now, but made a mental note to ask her more about him later.

A short moment later, the police had all four criminals in the carrier and were prepared to take their leave.

“Thank you girls again for your help with this case,” the captain said saluting them. All four girls returned the gesture as the Captain entered his vehicle and drove off, the siren blaring.

“That was insane!” Akane commented.

Kasumi nodded in agreement. “I’m just glad it’s all over. I’d hate to think what could’ve happened if…things didn’t turn out so well.”

“Speaking of things going wrong,” chimed in Nabiki. “Look at all of our stuff!” Following the bus crash, all of their belongings had been scattered along the ground, but for the most part still looked fine. Now however, many if not all of their stuff had large holes in them.

As the four girls surveyed the damage goods, Kasumi gasped as she lay her eyes on something else they’d purchased that day. “Oh no! Aunt Nodoka’s cake!” Following Kasumi’s gaze, the other 3 girls saw a hole in the cake box and the pastry itself had turned to mush.

“Well girls, so much for our great shopping trip,” complained Nabiki. “We lost all our stuff, lost our gift for Mrs. Saotome, and I’m pretty sure we’re low on the money Mrs. Saotome gave us in the first place.”

“Not only that, but the bus is trashed,” Akane reminded them. “How’re we supposed to get home?”

“Ummm…excuse me?’ All three sisters turned to Videl, who they’d almost forgotten was there.

“If you want, I could give you girls a ride home,” Videl offered.

“Really!?” Akane exclaimed.

“In fact, I can probably even help you replace some of the stuff that got ruined,” she added. “After all, it’s kind of my fault this happened,” she said sheepishly placing her arm behind her head. “It’s the least I can do to make up for it.”

“But…how?” asked Kasumi.

Videl crossed her arms and gave the trio a smug smile. “I’m the daughter of Mr. Satan, I practically own this town. A hefty trip to the mall would barely make a dent in my Dad’s wallet.”

“We accept!” Nabiki said darting forward.

“Nabiki!” snapped her sisters.

“What? She offered.”

With a giggle, Videl reached into her pocket and pulled out her small box of capsules. Popping one open, she revealed her old Jet-Copter. She hadn’t had to use the old thing much lately, but she always kept it with her, just in case.

Nabiki whistled “Nice ride.”

“Hm, thanks,” Videl stepped inside the aircraft and began powering it up. As the engine sprang to life, she noticed that the Tendo girls hadn’t moved yet. “Well, are you three coming or what?”

The sisters all looked at each other, then smiled in unison. “Looks like you’ll get your wish too Nabiki,” said Kasumi.

A moment later, all four girls were strapped into Videl’s jet, Akane next to the pilot with her sisters in back.

“By the way, Akane, I didn’t get your friends’ names,” Videl noted.

“They’re my sisters actually. The nice one with the ponytail is Kasumi, and the greedy one’s Nabiki.”

“Hmph. I’d normally be insulted, but she’s not wrong,” Nabiki huffed.

Kasumi giggled. “Thank you again Ms. Satan.”

“Like I said before, just call me Videl,” she said winking.

“Well then Tendo Sisters, you all ready?”

“Yeah!”

“Then let’s go!”

In a flash, the vehicle ascended into the sky and blasted off towards the Satan City Mall.

(To Be Continued)

**_(A/N: And that’s the end of that. So yeah, I didn’t reveal the Boss’s name until he was almost beaten. I came up with it after I had him call his underling ‘Stretch’ last chapter, so I think you can guess what the basis for the name puns are supposed to be. As for the whole exchange between Akane and Bends, I’m satisfied with the result, but not completely. I think it’d be easier if I had a definitive answer to one question: How would Ranma characters react to gunshots?_ **

**_While I think some major characters would be able to dodge a bullet at close range (like say, Ranma himself), I don’t think Akane is one of them. I also don’t think anyone from Ranma (except MAYBE Ryoga) would be able to take a bullet._ **

**_Also, regarding Videl’s ‘partner’, I decided not to include ‘You Know Who’ this time because that would’ve been WAAAY too easy, and I wanted the girls to take care of business this time around. Also, I have a few ideas for what happens when they do eventually meet him._ **

**_Next time, Videl and the Tendo Sisters take a trip and if all goes as planned, the crossover craziness could start)._ **

****

 

 


	3. To the Tendo Dojo; Videl vs. Akane

**My Life's Stranger Than Yours**

_ To the Tendo Dojo; Videl vs. Akane _

In the skies of Satan City, a familiar yellow aircraft could be seen jetting out of the city limits.

"So let me get this straight," said the equally familiar pilot. "You girls live at a dojo?" Videl asked.

Akane nodded. "Yup. The Tendo Training Hall in the Nerima ward."

"Hmmm…it's not too far from here, but it's still quite a distance away." Videl noted. "What brought you girls to Satan City?"

Nabiki shrugged. "Well, what can we say. We were offered a day out and we felt like going all out today," she began. "And the best way to go all out is to go to a city bigger than your hometown."

"Well, you have a point," Videl chuckled.

"Speaking of going all out," she paused. "Akane?"

"Yes?"

"You're a martial artist, aren't you?" Videl asked.

"Well…yeah," Akane replied with a bashful smile.

Videl chuckled. "I knew it! I admit, I had a doubt or two, but after seeing you throw a dumbbell, toss that guy from earlier and the fact that you live at a dojo…it seemed pretty obvious."

"Akane's one of the strongest people in our town," Kasumi added.

Nabiki crossed her arms. "True, but a lot of good that strength did us earlier," she teased.

"Nabiki!" Kasumi exclaimed.

"I'm just saying, for all of little sis' crazy strength, she probably could've taken all four of those guys out easily." Nabiki added.

Akane's eyes narrowed. She opened her mouth to retort, but was quickly cut off by Videl.

"Really?"

Akane's face flushed as her expression softened. "Well…yeah. I could've…if they weren't armed like that," she nervously replied.

"You never fought someone with a gun before, have you?" Videl asked.

"Well…no." Akane admitted.

"Then don't be so hard on yourself," Videl replied. "Honestly, any normal person probably would've froze completely in a situation like that. The fact that you were able to keep calm there really says something."

Akane couldn't help but blush at the praise she was receiving. Her bright mood was quickly soured by Nabiki's next comment.

"Believe me when I say, 'calm' is not the word to describe Akane."

Akane shot Nabiki a harsh glare and snapped, "Would you CAN IT!?"

"Told ya."

Videl tried to stifle a laugh at the bickering sisters. She's used to seeing these kinds of 'fights' between Goten and Trunks (and sometimes their fathers), but something about it being between a pair of sisters made it a bit funnier.

"Okay you two, take it easy." Videl interjected. "We've still got some time before we get to your town so let's try and stay civil here, shall we?"

Akane turned back in her seat as Nabiki slumped back into hers. In an attempt to ease the potential tension, Videl decided to start up a new conversation.

"Soo...if you don't mind my asking, who's the cake for?" Videl questioned.

"Oh! It's for our Aunt Nodoka," Kasumi replied. "It's actually thanks to her we were able to come out here today."

"Really?"

"She got a pretty big check from her job at our local clinic and she graciously decided to share it with us," Nabiki explained. "The cake's basically a 'thank you'."

"She sounds like a really nice lady," Videl commented.

"She is," Akane said with a small smile.

"If only we could say the same for her husband, am I right?" Nabiki chimed in.

"What about him?" Videl inquired.

"Let's just say, Uncle Saotome's not exactly the most honest man you'll ever meet," Kasumi vaguely answered.

Videl sighed. "Believe me when I say, I know a thing or two about 'a dishonest man,'"she replied. "But, to his credit, he's doing his best to make up for it," she quickly added.

Nabiki raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "Ohhhh, now that sounds interesting," she said. "So, who's  _your_  liar?" she asked.

Videl paused as she began to ponder whether or not she should answer. Sure she had a pretty big story to tell on the subject, but considering it it invoved more than just the person of discussion in the topic, she wasn't sure if it was her story to tell or not.

Thankfully for her, she wouldn't have to decide as Kasumi soon called out, "Look! We're back in the city!" Sure enough, all three tendo girls looked out the vehicles window's to see that they'd arrived back in Nerima, and right now, they were really enjoying the skyward view.

"Hey, I think I can see Ukyo's place from here!" Akane commented.

"I can see the school!" Kasumi chimed in.

Before the girls could continue their sightseeing, Videl quickly interjected, "Can you girls see your house?"

The trio all looked in various directions trying to spot their home. A few seconds later, Akane exclaimed, "There it is!" pointing in it's direction.

"Alright then. Hang tight, you're all almost home." With that, Videl pulled on the throttle and rocketed towards the Tendo Dojo.

"Hey Videl," Akane started.

"Yes?"

"Once we get to the dojo, would you be interested in a little sparring match?" Akane asked. "I want to see what you're really made of."

Videl briefly froze as she processed the question. After a pregnant pause, Videl replied with a spirited "I accept."

Akane's face lit up like a lightbulb. The current situation was like an old dream come true; Here she was, riding with her childhood hero, and that same hero had accepted her challenge to a say that she was excited would be an understatement, though she did her best to try and hide it.

"Have you ever seen Akane this giddy before?" Kasumi whispered to Nabiki.

"Not since she got that swimsuit that made her able to swim," Nabiki dryly replied.

[At the dojo]

It was unusually quiet in the training hall right now. Soun and Genma were playing their usual game and Nodoka was in the kitchen getting dinner ready. As per usual, silence never lasts long around these parts and the peaceful aura was quickly disturbed by a loud 'whooshing' sound coming from outside.

"What in the blazes-!?" Soun exclaimed.

The three adults dashed outside to see a yellow aircraft hovering over the dojo.

"I wonder who that could be," said Nodoka.

"Maybe it's someone looking for Saotome over there," Soun pointed to the now Panda Genma.

'I'm just an adorable panda bear,' read Genma's sign.

Nodoka, and Soun stood bracing themselves for whatever came next as the yellow aircraft started to descend. Once they heard the engine power down, the cockpit burst open and revealed a few familiar faces.

"We're back!" Akane called.

"Akane!" Soun exclaimed.

"Oh! Welcome back girls," Nodoka greeted as the Tendo sisters all exited from the jet. "How was your trip?" she asked. "Though I can probably guess it was exciting at least."

"You don't know the half of it, Auntie Saotome," replied Nabiki.

Once all three girls were out, the large aircraft seemed to...implode in a large puff of smoke and a fourth girl revealed herself.

"And who might you be?" Nodoka asked.

"My name's Videl," she introduced herself with a bow. "I brought the girls home after a...situation in the city left the bus out of commision," she began.

"Well Ms. Videl, you have my thanks," Soun gratefully said.

"Oh it was nothing sir. Especially after Akane saved me the way she did."

"Oh? And how exactly did she save you, hmmm?" Nodoka inquired.

"I'd be more than happy to tell you after our match." Videl replied.

"Match?"

"Videl's a well known martial artist around her parts, and she agreed to a match with me," Akane explained.

"Oh now that does sound exciting!" Soun said. As the group entered the house, Soun exclaimed. "Follow me and I'll show you to the training hall!"

As Soun led the two fighter girls to the dojo, Kasumi followed Nodoka back into the kitchen, the cake box in hand.

Nabiki briefly pondered a moment, before following the fighters to the dojo, her new camera in hand. She just got the thing and she figured that a few shots of Akane duking it out with a very well known female martial artist would be able to fetch her  _some_  kind of price.

[In the dojo]

A few minutes later, Videl and Akane, garbed in her gi, stood across from each other, while Nabiki sat on the sidelines waiting for the battle to start.

"Can I just say something before we start?" Akane asked.

"What is it?"

"Well...I just wanted to say that you've been a huge inspiration for me!" Akane quickly blurted out. "So getting a chance to have a match with you like this is really an honor!" she followed up bowing.

Videl could only sheepishly chuckle. "Well, I'm flattered you feel that way," Videl replied. "I've met my share of fans before, but it's not everyday one of them challenges me to a fight like this."

It was Akane's turn to awkwardly giggle. "Well...I just hope I can make it worth your while."

"Are you two gonna talk all night, or are you going to actually fight?" Nabiki interjected. "My camera's battery can only last for so long without being charged."

Akane let out a huff. 'Who said you could even film this?' she thought. Opting to ignore the camera comment, Akane fell into a fighting stance and Videl did the same.

The two girls stared each other down for a few brief moments. Akane made the first move as she threw a fierce punch at Videl. The black haired girl simply swayed to the side as she countered with a knee to Akane's gut.

The blue-haired tomboy took the brunt of Videl's counterattack, but quickly recovered and began her own counterattack with a high kick. Videl blocked Akane's attack and retaliated with a punch to Akane's face. Luckily, Akane was able to catch Videl's hand before she made contact.

Videl attempted to pull her hand back, but Akane kept a firm grip on her opponent. Deciding to get back on the offensive, Akane grabbed the collar of Videl's shirt with her free hand and with a great deal of strength flipped Videl over her shoulder and onto the mat with a loud  _'SLAM!'_

'Damn...that stings!' Videl thought. She didn't have time to dwell on the pain as a very female looking shadow cast itself over her. Videl looked up to see Akane launching towards her, her knee extended. Thinking quickly, Videl vaulted herself forward to avoid Akane's attack, landing back on her feet.

"You're pretty good," Videl complimented.

"Thanks," Akane replied.

"But...you've still got a ways to go."

"Hmph, tell me something I don't know," Akane sarcastically replied.

Videl fell back into a fighting stance as she prepared herself for Akane's next attack.

The blue-haired tomboy rushed at Videl and fired off a volley of punches that Videl had to defend against. After a few seconds of blocking, Videl's forearms started to sting. If blocking Akane's attacks told Videl anything about her opponent, it's that she was very physically strong. If things kept up like this, her guard would sooner or later get broken. She had to get back on the offensive now!

Akane reeled her fist back and launched what Videl could assume was a full strength blow. Seeing this as her opportunity, Videl ducked under Akane's attack and flung herself backwards and kicking Akane in the chin.

While Akane reeled back, Videl responded by launching herself forward and striking with a flying roundhouse kick, which Akane managed to duck under. Before she could fully steady herself, Akane felt something soft and warm wrap around her neck. In the next instance, Akane found herself being swung down and hitting the mat hard, with Videl on top of her.

"Ack! What...happened!?" Akane strained out.

"Oh I...may have just thrown you with my legs," Videl smugly replied.

Akane grinned. "Okay, you got me," she admitted. "But I'm not finished yet!" Akane threw a quick punch at Videl who dodged to the side and grabbed her hand. The two girls grappled as Akane tried to free herself from Videl's mercy and Videl struggled to keep Akane pinned down.

Seemingly forgotten by the two combatants, Nabiki was watching the fight with great interest through her camera lens. "Filming this fight was a great idea," she whispered to herself. 'With this much physical contact between those two, I know a select few guys who'll pay top dollar for the replay of  _this_ fight.' she grinned.

The two martial artists continued to grapple with each other with other, neither one managing to get a full leg up on the other, so to speak. While Akane had managed to swap their positions and get on top of Videl, Videl quickly broke free and managed to pin Akane once again.

'Oh yeah. This one'll be a hit!' Nabiki thought.

"You. Giving. Up. Yet?" Videl asked through gritted teeth.

"No...way!" With a great deal of strength, and a loud grunt, Akane managed to lift Videl off of her and fling her back on the mat. As Videl began to pick herself up, she heard a quick cry of, "An opening!"

Akane threw another punch aimed straight for Videl's face. This time however, she wasn't in an optimal position to dodge it and she took the full force of Akane's punch. The blow was stronger than Videl had anticipated. The force actually threw her back a foot or two and knocked her back to the mat.

Videl finally picked herself up this time and turned back to face Akane who wore a confident smile on her face.

"I'll bet you're feeling pretty good about that one, aren't you?" Videl taunted.

"Maybe just a little," Akane replied.

"Well, enjoy it cause that's the last time I'm gonna let you get the drop on me like that!" Videl proclaimed, her own confident grin on her face.

"Oh I enjoyed it all right. In fact, this is the most fun I've ever had in a sparring match before!" Akane replied. "But don't think that means I'm going to let up!" With that said, Akane fell back into a defensive stance.

With a grin, Videl also took a fighting pose ready to continue their bout. The two girls paused as they both waited for the other to make the next move. The silence however, was broken by the sound of thrashing coming from just outside the dojo, a sound that didn't go unnoticed by Videl.

"Hey, do you hear that?" Videl asked.

"Hear what?" both sisters asked.

"It sounds like it's coming from outside," Videl noted.

The black haired girl dropped her stance and made her way to the sliding door. Before she could even make a reach for it, the door burst open inward and a small dark colored...thing zipped in and bounded off the wall.

"Get back here ya freak!" Videl heard from a distinctly male voice. Before she could react, Videl was quickly toppled over by a boy who looked to be her age in a red shirt and black pants.

"Where'd he get to!?" The boy questioned, scanning the area of the room.

"Hey!"

He turned around to the unfamiliar voice and came face to face with Videl who was looking understandably upset.

"Huh? Who're you?" he asked.

"I'm the girl you just trampled ya jerk," Videl said.

"What're you talking abo-?" Before the boy could finish his question, his target reappeared and attached itself to Videl's chest.

"Waaaaahh!?" Videl cried out, her face flushed cherry red. She looked down to see what seemed to be a very small old man was groping her breasts and motorboating her.

"Ohhhhooohooo! Who might you be Ms. New Girl!?" The old man asked.

Videl could barely form a sentence as the shock of being molested like this had yet to fully wear off.

"Hey old man," the boy from before exclaimed. "Don't forget, that I'M YOUR OPPONENT!" without thinking, he reached out a hand in an attempt to grab the lecherous old man.

Being fully prepared for the attempted attack, the tiny elder quickly zipped away from his young adversary. Unfortunately for the boy himself, he was unable to stop his hand and wound up grabbing Videl's chest himself, and with the intent to grab the old man, he also wound up giving the mound a very firm squeeze.

"Wha-!?"

"Kya!" With a shriek, Videl snapped out of her previous state of shock and immediately retaliated by punching the boy right in the side of the head. As he was unprepared to take the attack, he stumbled backwards and fell right on his back side.

"Ow...that smarts," he said aloud. 'Dammit, that old man's gone and got me into trouble again!' he thought. 'Oh well. If I just apologize, I MIGHT be able to get outta this easily. After all it's not like I accidently grabbed...' the boy's internal musing was brought to an abrupt halt when he heard the very familiar calling of his name.

"Raaaaaanmaaaaaa!"

With a look of pure dread on his face, Ranma turned around and came face to face with, "Akane...? How...how long have you been there?" Ranma asked.

"You PERVERT!"

As Akane exploded, Ranma feared for his life, and Videl tried desperately to shield herself from Happosai's lecherous antics, the still spectating Nabiki was watching all the chaos unfold, again through the lenses of her new camera.

"Hmph...I'm gonna have a LOT of editing to do when all this is over, won't I?"

**_(A/N: I'm back y'all! If anyone's wondering about my long Hiatus, let's just say the Christmas season is NOT very forgiving for someone who works in a toy store. No free time to actually write, and no mental strength to actually get my ideas straight. I also return with good news and bad news. Bad news, I don't have a new computer. Good news is, I managed to get my old/current computer back into a functional state. More bad news is I'm now using writing software that's inferior to what I was before so Chapters may be a bit...off compared to my previous work. Constructive criticism is always welcome. So yeah, Akane and Videl had a little sparring match and the typical Ranma 1/2 antics come to end it before we have a winner. Videl better prepare herself. She may be used to aliens, gods, and demons, but will she be able to handle the unpredictability of the Ranma 1/2 norm!?)_ **

 


	4. Battle With Happosai; May The Chaos Commence

** My Life's Stranger Than Yours **

_Versus Happosai! May The Chaos Commence!_

"Akane calm the hell-!" Ranma couldn't finish his statement as he rolled away from Akane's fist aimed for his head.

"Do you have any idea what you just did!?" Akane yelled. Grabbing a nearby bamboo sword, Akane swung it as she chased after an acrobatically dodging Ranma.

"Well...yeah, but it was an accident!" Ranma defended as he swayed away from another of Akane's attempted strikes.

"It's bad enough you interrupted our match Ranma!" Akane began. "But you had the gall to lay your perverted fingers on Videl!"

Ranma's eyes lightly narrowed. "It. Was. An. Accident!" Ranma repeated. "I don't even know who...Vital is. I was just trying to catch the old freak!" he argued as he somersaulted away from another attack.

Akane ignored Ranma's words as she brought the sword down once again. This time however, he was prepared to defend himself.

"Saotome Sword Catch!" Clapping his hands together, Ranma caught the sword and held it in place as Akane tried to pull it away. The two briefly struggled for a moment until they heard a shriek of, "Get...OFF OF ME!!"

Turning towards the shriek, the two saw Videl furiously trying to pry Happosai off of her chest. At the sight of this, Akane's eyes instantly widened in panic.

"Oh God, NO!" she exclaimed.

"So, ya ready to stop hitting me and help take down the old man?"

Akane let out a sigh. "Yeah, but don't think I'm finished with you yet!" she proclaimed.

"Whatever," Ranma shot back. Releasing his grip on the sword, he and Akane quickly rushed over to Videl's aid.

Speaking of Videl, to say that she was having a horrible time right now would be an understatement. In the last few minutes, she'd been hit with a door, trampled, and groped by a random boy and a lecherous old man (though to be fair, she was sure that it was an accident with the former), and the latter was still clinging to her assets.

"Hmmmm...not very big, but they do feel reasonably firm," Happosai said evaluating Videl's bust. "You're still young so I'm sure they'll get plenty bigger once you get your growth spurt!" he delightfully added.

"Who asked you!" Videl yelled throwing a punch at him. To her surprise, he seemed to vanish in a huff. Crossing her arms across her chest, Videl quickly scanned her immediate surroundings for sight of the old lech. Her search was short lived as she now felt annoyingly familiar tiny hands at her rear end.

"Wha-!?"

"Now this area also feels firm like the top half, but it also feels comparatively softer."

Her face redder than it's ever been before, due to a combination of fury, annoyance and embarrassment, Videl lifted her leg and threw a sloppy backwards kick. Happosai easily hopped over her attack and landed on her leg.

"Ohhhh...I think we have a winner here," Happosai commented as he latched onto Videl's thigh.

Videl was beyond pissed off at this point. She's faced more threatening opponents than some perverted one-foot nothing old raisin, and yet here she was getting taken for a ride, with all of her personal space being violated. 'What. The Hell. IS this guy!?' Videl internally yelled.

Before either of them could react however, Happosai was suddenly launched off Videl's leg and slammed into the wall. Turning to the side, Videl saw Akane and Ranma had returned, the former holding a bamboo sword.

"Videl are you alright!?" Akane quickly asked.

"I feel like I need a cold shower, but yeah," Videl replied. "Nice shot by the way."

"Thanks," Akane replied.

"This fight ain't over yet," Ranma interjected.

Sure enough, Happosai removed himself from his imprint in the wall and stood before the three teens looking visibly upset.

"Oh Akane, how could you not properly introduce me to you're new friend?" Happosai faux sobbed. "And to make matters worse, you interrupted me when I was introducing myself."

"The time for introduction's over old man!" Ranma snapped. "We're ending this now!" All three young martial artists dropped into defensive stances as Happosai narrowed his eyes.

"Hey, Vital right?," Ranma whispered to Videl. "Can you fight?"

"It's 'Videl', and yes I can!" she fiercely whispered back.

"So, you insist on interrupting this old man and one of his few pleasures left in his very limited time left on this Earth eh?" Happosai sneered.

"Believe me, the time you leave this Earth is the day everyone on it breathes a sigh of relief," Ranma shot back.

"Why you! I think it's time I teach you naughty brats a lesson!" Happosai leapt towards the trio who all seperated to dodge him. Faster than they expected, Happosai quickly bounced back towards them, this time with a firecracker in hand.

"Secret Technique: Happo Fire Burst!" With all the strength his little arms could muster, Happosai lobbed the small pyrotechnic at the young trio.

"Look out!" Akane yelled. Her warning came just in the nick of time as Ranma and Videl both flipped away from the ball and the resulting explosion.

"What was that?" Videl asked. 'Was that an energy attack like Gohan and the others can do?' she mentally mused.

"It's just one of his stupid tricks where he throws bombs!" Ranma answered.

"Ya like it?" Happosai taunted. "Cause there's more where that came from!" Happosai proceeded to reveal numerous more firecrackers from seemingly nowhere and tossed them all at his young adversaries.

Ranma quickly zipped in front of the girls and began his retaliation. "Amaguriken!" With blinding speed and expert precision, Ranma struck each of the explosives and forced them back at Happosai.

"Not bad, but not good enough!" Happosai pulled out a pipe and expertly volleyed all the bombs back at the teens, and the fuses on all of them were at the end of their wicks. As they flew towards the three young fighters, they all exploded in a brilliant blaze of smoke and fire.

"Heads up!" Videl exclaimed. As Ranma and Akane each zipped to the sides to get  out of the blast radius, Videl opted to hover above the floor and quickly glide backwards, escaping the blast herself.

Her movement didn't go unnoticed by Ranma who briefly froze with a contemplative look on his face. 'Is the smoke making my eyes screw with me, or was she just floating?' Ranma thought. As Ranma continued to wonder about Videl floating or not, his thoughts were interrupted by a large ball landing in his hands. "Oh sonova-!"

**_BANG!_ **

The blast from that large Fire Burst ball was enough to launch Ranma through the wall into the yard where he promptly landed into the pond.

"Ranma!" Akane shrieked.

"I got him!" Videl exclaimed.

'What happened? Ranma's not one to get distracted like that,' Akane thought. She couldn't dwell on the issue too much as Happosai came bounding back, this time towards her.

Videl floated through the giant hole in the wall and landed besides the garden pond where she saw a familiar red fabric floating in the water.

"Hey...are you alright?" Videl asked reaching for the red cloth.

The red clad martial artist burst out of the water, but to Videl's complete and utter shock, it wasn't who or what she was expecting. For standing where she expected a black haired young man to be, stood a short, red-haired, and curvy young girl who also looked to be around her age.

"Damn that old bastard!" The redhead growled. "He's gonna pay for that one!" she proclaimed while hopping out of the pond. Rolling up her sleeves, she stomped her way passed Videl and back to the dojo.

"Yo!" she called to Videl. "Are you getting back in this thing or not?" she asked.

Videl just stood momentarily frozen before she finally managed to get out, "W-wh-who...who are you!?"

"Me? I'm Ranma, remember? The jerk who trampled you earlier?" Ranma replied.

"B-but-but...wasn't he-? You aren't-! You're a-!"

"Kyaaaaahh!"

The duo turned back towards the dojo as they heard Akane scream.

"Look, I'll explain later, but right now, we gotta help Akane and take down the old freak!" Ranma said sternly.

"Oh! R-right!"

The pair quickly hopped back through the hole in the wall where they witnessed Akane taking swings (and misses) at Happosai with the bamboo sword.

"Okay, Akane's got him on the defense, but what do we do now?" Videl asked.

Ranma smirked. "Fear not Ms. Villa, for I have a plan that never fails!" he proclaimed.

"I told you before, it's _Videl_!" she corrected. "Also, what plan?"

"This! Hey Old Man!" Ranma called, stepping forward.. Akane and Happosai both turned to Female Ranma's voice.

"Get a load of this!" Without hesitation, Ranma pulled her shirt wide open revealing her ample, bouncing, bust to all patrons in the room.

"WHAT THE HELL!?" Videl exclaimed as her eyes were glued to Ranma's chest and her face became a deep scarlet shade.

"Ohhhhh! Boobies!" Happosai gleefully squealed. Bouncing away from Akane, he instantly launched himself at Ranma where he was promptly met with a fist to the face.

"You never learn, do you old timer?" Ranma deadpanned.

Grabbing the old man by the head, Ranma turned towards Akane who was taking a batters' stance with the bamboo sword.

"Heads up Akane, here comes a...fastball!"

With an efforted grunt, Ranma lobbed Happosai at Akane who promptly swung her weapon and cracked the lech in the head.

"Videl, you're up!" Akane called.

The black-haired girl in question was still eyeing Ranma's breasts as Ranma had yet to close her shirt. 'Doesn't this chick have any sense of modesty!?' Videl internally asked.

"Videl!"

At the sound of her name, Videl snapped out of her minor trance and looked up to see a familiar 'ball' flying towards her. Not wanting a repeat of her earlier encounter, Videl instinctively fired off a roundhouse kick knocking the unconscious elder back into the air.

Ranma gave an impressed whistle, as she finally buttoned her shirt back up.

"Not bad," she complimented. "But I'll show you how it's done!" Darting to where Happosai was set to land, Ranma set herself in place and fired a full strength forward kick launching Happosai through the roof of the dojo and onward to parts unknown.

Dusting off her hands, Ranma triumphantly proclaimed, "And that's the end of that." Putting her hands on her hips, Ranma let out a victorious laugh.

Akane let out an irritated sigh. While she was glad that Happosai had been taken care of, it didn't change the fact that he _and_ Ranma had all but ruined her match with Videl, a match she was positive she wouldn't get another chance to have.

'Wait a sec, Videl!'

Akane was quickly reminded of her idolized opponent. Turning towards the hole in the wall she saw Videl on her knees with the most unreadible expression of shock and confusion on her face ever.

'Oh no.'

Akane slowly made her way over to Videl where she sheepishly asked, "Are...you okay?"

Videl shakily picked herself up and managed to reply, "I...I think I'll be fine."

Akane let out a relieved sigh.

"One thing though."

"Yes?"

"I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS!"

As Akane let out a nervous chuckle, the all but forgotten about Nabiki deactivated her camera and casually walked out of the room.

"Well I'd better get started editing this thing," she said. "With this much footage, I might have to pull an all-nighter for some good enough material."

**_(A/N: This chapter may be a bit shorter than normal, but I figured I'd just get the encounter with Happosai out of the way and leave the intros and exposition for next time. With Happy out of the way (for now) Ranma and Videl can get properly acquainted, and while Videl has plenty of questions for Ranma, Ranma may have a few for her as well)_ **


	5. Intros Abound; Here's Ranma

** My Life's Stranger Than Yours **

_ Introductions Abound: Here's Ranma! _

Akane and Videl sat in the center of the dojo in awkward silence as a now Male Ranma was hammering planks of wood onto the hole in the wall.

"Alright, finished," Ranma said.

Wiping a layer of sweat off his forehead, Ranma went over to the join the girls.

"So...what're we talking about here?" Ranma asked attempting to break the silence.

"We were waiting for you to finish," Akane answered.

With a bead of sweat falling down is head, Ranma sat cross legged beside the girls.

"Okay, first off, my name's Ranma Saotome and I'm the heir of the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts," he introduced himself.

Videl lowered an eyebrow in confusion. 'Anything Goes Martial Arts?' Deciding to ignore that bit of ridiculousness for now, Videl introduced herself.

"My name's Videl and I'm the daughter of the World Martial Arts Champion Mr. Satan."

"Mr. Who?" Ranma asked.

"Nevermind that now!" Akane interjected. "I think you're forgetting something Ranma."

"Forgetting what?"

"That you owe her _and_ me an apology," Akane snapped.

Ranma raised an eyebrow. "Okay, I know why I owe her an apology, but why do I have to apologize to you?" he asked.

"For ruining my match with her!" Akane exclaimed.

"What match?"

"Before you and Happosai came barging in here, Videl and I were having a very serious match," Akane explained.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry already, geeze!" Ranma said raising his hands defensively.

Videl sighed. "It's fine since it was just an accident...it _was_ just an accident, _right_?"

"Well _duh_. I was just trying to catch the old man. It's not like I meant to squeeze ya like that," Ranma replied.

Akane quickly smacked him in the head. "Can't you show any manners at all?"

Videl chuckled. "Akane, take it easy. I'm not exactly pleased with what Ranma did, but it happened, I already hit him for it, let's just move on."

Akane was faintly surprised that Videl wasn't as upset about Ranma's place in the previous mess as she was, but ultimately she took Videl's advice and let it go...for now.

"Speaking of that old guy," Videl began. "What was his deal?"

Akane and Ranma both narrowed their eyes. "That old shriveled prune is nothing but an old perverted freak who doesn't know when to beat it!" Ranma said.

"He's more than that," Akane added. "He's also a very skilled Martial Arts master. After all, he trained both of our fathers."

"A lecherous old martial arts master," Videl stated. "I've been there before, but believe me when I say that the one I've dealt with is completely tame compared to...Hype-O-Side?"

"Happosai," Akane corrected.

"Right," Videl paused as she tried to find a proper way tophrase her next question. "So...Ranma, right?"

"Yeah?"

"Was that red-haired girl really you?" Videl asked.

Ranma let out an irritated sigh. "Yeah, it wa-AAAAH!" Ranma yelped as he was splashed with cold water from seemingly nowhere.

"That ought to make explanations easier," said a smug faced Nabiki holding a water bottle.

"Nabiki!" Akane exclaimed.

"What the hell was that for!?" Yelled a now Female Ranma. "And where'd you even come from?"

"Well I was trying to get some snapshots from their fight," she said motioning to Akane and Videl. "But since my camera needs to charge for a while, I thought I'd come back and see if anything else exciting was happening."

Ranma sighed as she squeezed water out of her pigtail. "So yeah. Long story short, this is a curse. Cold water turns me into a girl and hot water changes me back into a boy."

"A curse? Like...like magic?" Videl asked.

Ranma nodded. "I'm not the only one. There are others with similar curses to mine, and they all activate through cold water," she explained.

"So if the curse activates with cold water...I guess that means you're normally a boy?" Videl guessed.

"Now you're getting it," Ranma added.

"So wait...when you transform," Videl added approaching Ranma. "You turn into a girl completely?" she asked placing a hand on Ranma's chest.

"If you're asking if they're real, the answer's yes now can you please stop that?" Ranma asked with a restrained annoyed tone.

Videl grunted. "Well you did it to me first, so now we're even."

Ranma giggled. "Alright, you got me there."

"I do have another question though," Videl said, her face becoming tinted red. "If your female form is really female, did you have to flash your chest like that!?"

'I swear, she's even bigger than Erasa,' Videl mentally added.

Ranma shrugged. "Against the old perv? I do whatever works."

"Well you really need to start finding a better way Ranma," Akane scolded.

"Heh, you're just jealous that I'm still built better than you," Ranma teased, striking a flirtatious pose.

"Why would I be jealous of a half girl like you!?" Akane exclaimed pounding Ranma upside the head.

"What was that for!?" Ranma exclaimed.

"Being a jerk!"

"I'd rather be a jerk than a sexless tomboy like you!"

"What'd you say!?"

Videl sweatdropped as she watched the two go back and forth. Turning towards Nabiki, Videl asked, "Are they always like this?"

"Yup. Hard to believe they're engaged, isn't it?"

Videl paused as she slowly processed what Nabiki had just said. After a few seconds to take it in, Videl exclaimed, "ENGAGED!?"

Videl's outburst caused the bickering Ranma and Akane to momentarily freeze. They both then turned their eyes to Nabiki.

"Nabiki, why'd you have to bring that up?" Akane asked.

"What? It's not like it's a secret or anything," Nabiki defended.

Before anyone could retort, the sloppily thrown back together dojo door slid open (then fell) as Kasumi appeared before the group.

"Oh, are you two finished?" Kasumi asked. "Oh Ranma's back too! Aunt Nodoka sent me to tell you that dinner's almost ready, and the bath's ready if you two want to freshen up a bit," she said to Akane and Videl.

"Will you be joining us Videl?" Kasumi asked.

"I...I'll think about it," she answered.

Kasumi nodded as she left the dojo leaving the group alone.

All four girls shared glances at each other before they all exited the dojo. Nabiki returning to her room, Ranma to the kitchen, and Akane and Videl headed towards the bathroom.

[Meanwhile]

Akane and Videl were in the bath dressing room, undressing. As Akane pulled her gi top off, she let out a disappointed sigh.

"I can't believe we didn't get to finish our match," she lamented.

"Don't take it too hard," Videl replied. "At the very least I enjoyed-!" Videl froze as she pulled both her shirts off and made a startling discovery.

"Enjoyed what?" Akane asked. "Videl? Enjoyed what?" she repeated. Akane turned to Videl to see the girl frozen and it looked like her face was red (again).

"Videl, what's wrong?" Akane asked.

"My...my bra's gone...." Videl hesitantly answered.

"Aren't we about to take a bath?" Akane said confused.

"I didn't take it off yet...."

Akane took a moment to understand what Videl meant, then it hit her. "Happosai...!" she sneered dangerously.

"How!? I know for a fact that he didn't go inside my...! Urgh!!"

[Elsewhere]

A small figure sitting at a campfire, took a puff from his pipe. "That new girl wasn't the best, but I'll be sure to have something to remember her by." On that note, he revealed a pink piece of cloth and let out a hearty laugh.

[Back at the dojo]

Akane and Videl sat together in the bathtub, basking in the warmth of the water. The last few moments had been pretty stressful for both of them and they both just wanted to relax right now.

"This is really nice," Videl said. "And after that mess, it's just what I needed."

"I'll say," Akane agreed.

The pair could've just enjoyed the bath in silence together, but frankly, there were still a few more things Videl wanted to know about Ranma.

"So Akane..." Videl started. "You and Ranma are really engaged?"

Akane's mood immediately soured.

"Not by choice," Akane answered. "It's something our Dad's arranged," she explained.

"Really? Hmph, that's almost the opposite of what my Dad did."

"What'd he do?" Akane asked.

"He says I'm not even allowed to date anyone unless he's stronger than him." Videl answered.

'Okay, now _that_ sounds like Kuno's ridiculous rule,' Akane thought. "That's stupid, but it still sounds comparatively better than having your fiancee chosen for you."

"Yeah, but in the end, it doesn't matter what my father says. I have a boyfriend now, and we're happy together," Videl said a light blush on her face. 'The fact that he's way stronger than Dad too is just a bonus.'

"Really!?" Akane gasped, her own face turning slightly red. Truth be told, she hadn't figured a serious martial artist like Videl would have time or much interest in a relationship, but the revelation that she had a boyfriend served to pique her interest.

Videl could only nod with a smile.

"What's he like?" Akane asked.

"All I can say is he's probably the kindest person I've ever met...except maybe for Kasumi."

The two girls giggled.

"I haven't even met the guy and he already sounds like he'd be a better fiancee than Ranma." Akane groaned.

"While you're probably right, Ranma doesn't seem like he'd be a bad choice either," Videl commented. "If you can get past the whole, you know, curse thing, then-" Videl paused.

"Wait a sec, when Ranma's a girl does he-?"

"No, no, he still has a guy's mentality even when he's in female form," Akane answered.

'Well, that explains why he has zero modesty, at least' Videl mentally groaned.

"The curse isn't a serious problem," Akane grunted. "The problem is just...him!"

Videl gave Akane an inquisitive look. "What's the problem?"

Akane sighed. "I don't wanna talk about him right now. For now, I just want to relax a little."

Videl took a mental note on how quickly Akane wanted to drop Ranma as a subject. This really wasn't any of her business, but she was curious about Akane and Ranma's relationship, among a couple of other things.

[Elsewhere in the dojo]

Ranma had gone to the kitchen to fetch some hot water since the girls were currently occupying the bathroom. Once he returned to his male form, Ranma made his way upstairs to Nabiki's room.

"Yo, Nabiki!" Ranma called while knocking on her door.

A few seconds later, the door opened and Nabiki came to greet him. "Ranma, what brings you here?" she asked. "Is dinner finally done?"

"Almost, but that's not why I'm here," he darted into her room, pulling her in along.

"You said you recorded Akane and Videl's sparring match right?" Ranma asked.

"You're in luck! I just finished my first batch of snapshots," Nabiki reached under her bead and pulled out a small stack of photos of Videl and Akane grappling with each other on the floor. "Because you came at such a great time, I'l give you this first set for half price."

"I don't care about that right now," Ranma snapped. "I need to know if you got our fight with Happosai."

"Well, yeah, but I haven't even edited it yet." Nabiki answered.

Ranma smirked. "Good. You think you can show me the playback of a certain part?"

"Of course I can...for 500 yen." Nabiki replied.

"You're a tough chick to deal with, ya know that?" Ranma deadpanned.

"Pay-per-view Ranma, Pay-Per-View."

Ranma disdainfully handed Nabiki the money as the girl picked up her camera and fast-forwarded to the moment Ranma, Akane, and Videl started attacking Happosai. They watched the footage for a couple of minutes before Ranma shouted, "Hold it!"

Nabiki quickly paused the video. "What's up?"

"Go back a few seconds," Ranma ordered. Nabiki sighed but complied.

"Pause it, and then zoom in on Videl."

"What's the point of this?" Nabiki asked. The scene they were paused on was right after Happosai had deflected the bombs back at the three. Ranma could swear he saw Videl do something unusual, and he needed confirmation.

"Play it forward in slow motion and we'll find out."

Nabiki restarted the video and Ranma finally got his answer as he now had a vivid image of Videl dodging Happosai's attaack.

"Ha! I knew it, she was floating!" Ranma exclaimed.

"Okay...why is that relevant?" Nabiki asked.

"Answer me this, did Videl float when she fought Akane?" Ranma asked.

"I dunno, I wasn't looking," Nabiki sarcastically answered.

Ranma pulled out another 100 Yen and scornfully handed it to Nabiki.

"To answer your question, no. Videl was not floating when she fought Akane...although now that I think about it, she did do something similar back in the city?" Nabiki recalled. "Again I ask, why does that matter?"

"There's no doubt in my mind that her floating trick is some kind of martial arts technique!" Ranma answered.

"How'd you come to that conclusion?" Nabiki unenthusiastically asked.

"Call it a hunch, but since people can't usually fly like that, it's the only explanation I got." Ranma replied.

'Also, when she did that, I could swear I felt her ki get lighter. Kind of like the opposite of when Ryoga uses his Shishi Hokodan' he thought.

"Well it makes some sense, since she is a martial artist, but who knows."

With a satisfied smirk, Ranma zipped out of Nabiki's room, slamming the door behind him.

"Hmph, not even a 'thank you.'"

[With Ranma]

Ranma made his way downstairs thinking over his theory about Videl. 'If I'm right, then that girl can somehow use ki to propel herself through the air,' he thought. 'Last I checked, only Herb could do something like that, but that was because he was some kind of dragon guy. If a normal girl like that Videl chick can do it then maybe I can too. I just need her to show me.'

Ranma's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of his mother calling. "Ranma, dinner's ready, can you get the others?"

'Although, that can wait until after I get some food,' he thought.

[A few moments later]

Videl was standing outside the Tendo home entrance accompanied by all three Tendo Sisters.

"Are you sure you don't want to stay for dinner?" Kasumi asked. "We have plenty to go around."

"Thanks for the offer, but it's getting late and I think I should be heading home now," Videl replied.

"At least take this with you," Kasumi handed Akane a small box. "It's a few slices of the cake you got for us back in the city."

"Thanks!"

'I should be thanking you,' Nabiki thought.

"Videl...I'm sorry how things turned out today," Akane vigorously apologized.

"Believe it or not, I've seen some crazy things that rank pretty close to what I've been to today, if not exceeds them." Videl replied.

"Really?"

"It's true."

"I still wish we could've finished our match at least," Akane lamented. "I wanted to show you what I could really do!"

"I think I have a pretty good idea of what you can really do, but if you really wanna finish our fight, why don't you come to my father's dojo after school?" Videl suggested.

"Really!?" Akane's face lit up.

Videl pulled out a small business card with her father's face on it. "Here's the address. My cell number's on the back, so if you ever just want to chat, we can do that too." she said with a wink.

"T-thank you!" Akane shakily said.

"Well, this has been fun, but I gotta go now." Videl reached into her pocket and pulled out her jet capsule. After getting settled into the pilot's seat, the yellow vehicle levitated into the air and rocketed off in a blaze of flame and exhaust.

"Well Akane."  The girls turned to see Nodoka approaching them. "It looks like you made a real nice friend."

Akane's hands shook as she clenched even tighter to the card in her hand. She didn't know how, and frankly she didn't care, but Mrs. Saotome was right. Somehow, she'd just become friends with her childhood idol! Her excitement was through the roof, but she was positive she was hiding it well enough.

"Akane? Why're you shaking?" Nodoka asked.

"Don't worry Auntie Saotome," Nabiki reassured her. "Akane's just feeling a little...ecstatic. Come on, let's go eat!"

"But what about...?"

"She'll eat when she's good and ready," Nabiki said shoving Nodoka into the dining room.

Akane looked the card over once more before placing it in the pocket of her dress. Finally calming down, she went to rejoin the others in the dining room.

**[To Be Continued]**

**_(A/N: Ha! You thought you'd have to wait a long time for a new, longer chapter, but...I don't know how to make a 'But it was me Dio' joke out of this. In all seriousness, I started this chapter immediately after the last one. At first I tried to make this an extension of the last chapter, but ending right after the fight with Happosai just felt too right. So anyway, Videl's gotten to know Ranma a little more, but is left with more questions and Ranma has his own curiosity about Videl. Also, while I don't believe Ranma can sense power the same way Dragon Ball Characters do, I know he CAN sense a person's ki when they're using a ki technique, which is what flying is. Case in point, the aforementioned Herb. Tune in next time as, if all goes as expected, the Ranma characters may get a taste of Dragon Ball's craziness)_ **

 

 

 

 

 

 


	6. Preparations Abound; A Reason to Fight

** My Life's Stranger Than Yours **

Preperations Abound; A Reason To Fight

Ranma and Akane were making their way to school, Ranma as usual, walking on the fence besides her. To Ranma's confusion, Akane had been notably more cheerful than usual that morning.

"Well someone's in a bright mood," Ranma noted. "What's the occassion?"

"Oh nothing much," Akane replied. "I'm just glad I'll finally get to finish my match with Videl after school."

"Really? She's coming over to the dojo again?" Ranma asked.

Akane nodded. "No, I'm going to her place," she answered.

"Oh."

"This time, I won't let anything get in our way!" Akane exclaimed.

"Geeze, I don't think I've ever seen you this eager for a fight before," Ranma stated.

Akane shrugged. "What can I say. It's not everyday you get to go a round with the daughter of a world famous martial artist."

"World famous...?" Ranma paused. "What makes her so special?" he asked. 'Aside from her floating trick?' he mentally added.

Before Akane could respond, the pair found that they'd in fact made it to school, and on time for once. As long as they didn't run into...

"Akane Tendo!"

Surely enough, Kuno had exited the building and rushed right up to Ranma and Akane. As he approached them, Ranma bounded into the air and threw a flying drop kick.

"Mornin' Kuno," Ranma beamed.

"Begone you irritating fiend!" Kuno snapped swinging his sword at Ranma.

The pigtailed fighter kicked Kuno's weapon and bounded backwards off of it, landing back besides Akane.

"I've no quarrel with you right now Ranma Saotome. I only wish to inquire with Akane Tendo about something that has recently been brought to my attention," Kuno stated.

"And what would that be?" Akane asked her arms crossed.

"Please tell me everything you know about the black haired girl in this picture!" Kuno exclaimed.

Kuno reached into his robe and pulled out a photograph of her, Ranma, and Videl standing assembled before their attack on Happosai.

"Hey, that's from our fight with the old freak yesterday!" Ranma noted.

Akane narrowed her eyes as she replied, "Why do you want to know?"

Kuno placed a hand on his hip and hoisted his sword on his shoulder.

"Through the machinations of your sister, Nabiki Tendo, I've been able to witness this mysterious girl in action. That girl appears to have strength and skill comparable to yours, Akane Tendo. Yet she also seems to have grace reminiscent of that of the pig-tailed girl."

Ranma sighed as he was less than thrilled to hear one of Kuno's bogus samurai monologues. Akane on the other hand was steadily getting more and more irritated as Kuno continued.

"I wish to meet this girl in person and witness her strength first hand. Then I will do her the honor of allowing her to go on a date with me." Kuno proclaimed.

Akane sighed as she walked past Kuno uninterested in any of his plans, let alone giving him information to help him carry them out.

"Hmph, forget it Kuno," Akane said. "Helping you make Videl one of your 'beauties' is the absolute last thing I'm going to do."

"Pardon me," Kuno interrupted. "But am I correct in assuming that her name is Videl?"

Akane mentally kicked herself for letting even a sliver of information leak to Kuno. Either way though, she knew it didn't matter.

"It doesn't matter anyway," Akane responded. "Even if you do meet up with her, you'd just be wasting her time since she already has a boyfriend."

Kuno shut his eyes and spoke with the most 'dignified' tone. "Hmph. You are correct Akane Tendo, it matters not. For once she witnesses the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High, she'll realize that I'm much more man that whatever barbarian she currently clings to."

"Yo, Blue Wonder!" Ranma called.

Kuno opened his eyes wide as he felt an uncertain weight on his head. Glancing up, he found that Ranma was perched on top of his skull yet again.

"Cause I know you never pay attention to what others are doin', Akane left already."

Kuno looked around the schoolyard to find that Akane had indeed gone away.

"Ya know, you can probably still catch her if you hurry," Ranma joked.

"Don't dare mock me, Ranma Saotome!" Kuno exclaimed.

Before Kuno could make a move, Ranma hopped off his head and dashed to the school.

"I'd love to play with ya more, but my Mom'll give me hell if I keep gettin' to class late so...catch ya' later 'Senpai'!"

Kuno growled as he tightened his grip on his wooden sword and raced after Ranma into the school.

[Meanwhile]

As Akane strolled through the hallways of Furinkan High, she couldn't help but notice all the looks she was getting from all the students.

'What's everyone staring at me for?' Akane thought.

"Akane!"

Akane turned to see Yuka and Sayuri approaching her.

"Hey girls, what's up?" Akane cheerfully greeted.

Instead of a friendly reply, Akane was met with two pairs of narrowed eyes.

"Akane, how could you!?" Sayuri exclaimed.

"What? What'd I do?" Akane asked defensively.

"How come you never told us you knew Videl!?" Yuka replied.

Akane let out a relieved chuckle. "Oh, so that's it. Let me guess, Nabiki?"

The two girls nodded.

As the trio walked off to their homeroom class, Akane gave them a brief rundown of her meeting with The Champ's daughter.

"Yeah, it's true," Akane began. "My sisters and I went shopping in Satan City and ran into her when we were getting set to go home. After that, she and I had a match at the dojo," Akane paused as she narrowed her eyes at the memory. "Then right when it was getting good, Ranma pops in out of nowhere and ruins it!"

"Really? What'd he do?" Sayuri asked.

"Well he was trying to catch Happosai, so I guess it wasn't entirely his fault," Akane reluctantly admitted. "Still, he wound letting Happosai get all over Videl and ended up dragging her AND me into his fight with him. I just wish he could've kept his chase away from our match!"

"Wow, you really wanted to finish that fight, huh?" asked Sayuri.

"That's an understatement," Akane replied. Though she hadn't told her friends about her admiration for Videl, they could already tell that losing a rare chance to match skills against a famous female fighter like her would be very upsetting.

Although, something about the way she told the story and her current attitude wasn't quite adding up.

"You know," Yuka began. "If Ranma and the old man did all that, I'd think you'd be a bit angrier about the whole thing."

Akane shot the two a sheepish grin.

"Well, honestly I probably would be if..."

"If what?"

"If I wasn't getting a chance to have a rematch with her after school," Akane excitedly said.

"Really!?"

Akane nodded. "Before she left our dojo, she gave me the address to one of her Dad's places in Satan City, so I'm gonna go back there after school and finish this fight!" she proclaimed raising her fist in the air.

Akane briefly got lost in her own fantasy of anticipation as she continued on to her homeroom class. As Akane steadily made her way out of eyesight and earshot, Sayuri asked Yuka, "Do you really think Akane can actually beat Videl?"

"Tough to say, it could probably go either way to be honest," Yuka replied.

"Still, I guess we should just wish her the best of luck."

As the two girls followed their friend to class, a shadowy looking eavesdropper snaked his way in their opposite direction.

[Later that day]

It was PE and the girls were playing volleyball. As the boys sat on the sidelines waiting for their turn, Ranma was approached by Daisuke and Hiroshi.

"So dude, how was she?" Hiroshi asked.

"Who and what are you talkin' about?" Ranma replied.

"Videl stupid!" snapped Daisuke. "We know you and Akane got to meet her!

"Geeze what's the deal with that chick?" Ranma asked. "She seems cool and all, and she's a pretty good fighter from what I saw, but why's everyone makin' a big deal outta me and Akane meeting with her?"

The two boys stared at their 'friend' with the most blatant looks of 'Are you serious!?' on their faces.

"Ranma, you can't tell me you don't know who she is?" said Hiroshi.

"A martial arts chick who's admittedly kinda cute?" Ranma guessed.

"No she...well yeah, but more importantly, she's the daughter of the World Martial Arts Champion Mr. Satan!" Daisuke answered.

Ranma thought back to the previous day, and remembered that Videl had also introduced herself as 's daughter, as if that was supposed to be important. Ranma's response was, "Mr. Who now? Never heard of him." 'And who the hell names themself after the Devil?'

Daisuke and Hiroshi gave Ranma the most deadpan looks ever following that little 'revelation'.

"Ranma, you're a crazy strong martial artist and you don't know Mr. Satan!?" exclaimed Hiroshi. "I can't believe this!"

Ranma narrowed his eyes in frustration. "Look guys, why don't you stop acting all surprised and tell me who this Satan guy is and why I should care!"

"Dude, Mr. Satan is said to be the strongest man on Earth!" Daisuke began. "While it may be exaggeration a little, he is still undoubtedly strong," he paused. " You see, around 8 or so years ago, he defeated a monster called Cell that wiped out a bunch of cities and even threatened the whole world!"

Ranma raised an eyebrow in with a hint of both interest and skepticism.

"Okay, beating something that ripped up a city or two I can buy, but who or what the hell has the balls or insanity to threaten the whole world?" Ranma exclaimed.

"Look it up Ranma, it really happened. Although back then, we'd all have been kids," Daisuke recalled.

"Well, that at least explains why I'm outta the loop," said Ranma. "I was on a training Journey with my old man 8 years ago."

As the two boys turned their attention back to the girls' game, Ranma began to process the new info he'd received.

'Hmmm...all this sounds like something out of a crappy shounen manga,' Ranma thought. 'Then again, I've had my share of 'Shounen Manga' moments like with Herb, Pantyhose Taro, and that Orochi, so I guess I can't really talk.'

Ranma paused in his thoughts and glanced over at Akane who was still in the heat of a fierce volleyball match.

'I already wanted to meet that chick again myself so she could show me her floating technique. But now, I'm curious to what her old man's made of too. Akane's goin' to her place after school so maybe she'll let me tag along.'

As Ranma continued to watch Akane and the other girls continue their game, he couldn't help but flinch as he witnessed Akane spike the ball hard.

'Then again, after that mess last night...maybe not,' Ranma thought. 'Oh...whatever, I guess it wouldn't hurt to just ask. I just gotta make sure I ask nicely.'

His plans for the day laid out in his mind, Ranma laid back on the grass to enjoy the rest of the girls' volleyball game...or take a nap. Whichever he was in the mood for.

[Afterschool]

The school day had let out without much of a hitch and Akane was out the door in a flash, quickly followed by Ranma. As the pair rushed home, Ranma attempted to talk to Akane.

"Yo Akane, wait up!" he called to her.

"What is it Ranma, I'm in a hurry!" Akane called back.

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about," he replied. "I know you're going to see Videl again, and I wanna go with ya'!"

"Not a chance Ranma!" Akane snapped.

Ranma hopped off the fence he was currently running on and landed next to the sprinting Akane.

"Why not?"

"After all that crap yesterday, I'm not letting you ruin my match again!" Akane answered.

"Oh you know that wasn't my fault!" Ranma exclaimed. "Besides, you're not the only one who wants a match with that chick!"

Akane slowed her sprint down to a casual walk. Ranma did the same, giving them a chance to continue their conversation at a more favorable pace.

"Wait a second Ranma, why do you want to fight her so badly?" Akane asked.

"That's my line," Ranma responded. "I asked you earlier, but you never answered."

Akane sighed. She'd already told her sisters, though it's not like it was ever really a secret anyway.

"Fine. The reason I've been so eager to have a match with her is because she's actually someone who inspired me to become a martial artist," Akane answered.

Ranma raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Wow...that was...unexpectedly kinda deep."

"Now do you get it Ranma?" Akane asked. "I thought yesterday would've been my only chance to go toe-to-toe with my childhood hero, but luckily I got a second chance, and I don't want anything to screw that up."

"No problem, I get it," Ranma assured her. "Believe me, if someone tried to screw with one of my fights with Ryouga, I'd wanna kick their ass too."

"Don't you fight Ryouga all the time?" Akane asked.

"Yeah, but thinking back, we don't have too many real showdowns. Most of our fights just sorta happen outta the blue." Ranma replied.

"Back on topic, why do you wanna fight Videl so badly?" Akane asked.

Ranma crossed his arms. "I saw the replay of our fight with the old man, and I don't know if you noticed something, but there was something she did in that fight that I wanna know more about," he answered.

"What'd she do?"

"When Happosai threw his bombs at us, she dodged them by floating in the air."

Akane had an expression of disbelief on her face.

"Ranma, what are you talking about?"

"I'm serious. I saw her float, and Nabiki can back me up on it, but the thing that interests me is that her floating move is some kind of Ki Technique," Ranma explained.

"A ki technique?" Akane asked, now invested.

"Yeah. When I saw her do it, I also felt her ki get lighter, and I've seen someone use ki to launch themself in the air before."

"Really? When?"

"Remember that time I got locked in girl form by that guy from the Cat Cafe?" Ranma said.

"The Cat...Oh!" Akane recalled a robed figure from the Cat Cafe. While she had seen many of Ranma's more intense battles, his fight with that guy was one that she'd missed.

"That Herb guy had a unique quirk to him, so at the time I thought only someone like him would be able to do that, but if a normal looking girl like Videl can do a similar move, then you better believe I wanna try it too!" Ranma proclaimed.

Akane took a moment to think about all Ranma had told her. While the thought of people flying sounded kind of farfetched, she couldn't deny that she's seen way stranger things (Ranma's curse for instance). Also, if Ranma was right and floating was simply some kind of martial arts technique, then maybe...just maybe...

"Ranma!" Akane exlaimed.

The pigtailed boy flinched as he hadn't expected Akane to be loud.

"W-what!?"

"I changed my mind, I'll let you come along with me," Akane stated.

"Wha-? Really?"

"Don't get the wrong idea though," Akane interrupted him. "I'm only agreeing so I can keep an eye on you."

"Wait, whadaya mean, 'Keep an eye on me?'" Ranma asked.

"If I said 'No' and stuck to it, you'd have probably followed me anyway and done something stupid to ruin our fight again," Akane replied

"Stupid how?"

"Oh I don't know? Maybe something with one of your brilliant disguises?" Akane sarcastically remarked.

Ranma sheepishly put his hand behind his head and let out a nervous chuckle. 'Am I really getting that predictable?'

"Chill out would ya? I already said I wasn't gonna mess with ya." Ranma said defensively. "Look if it'll make ya feel better, maybe I'll go fight her old man while you're having your big rematch. I've heard some things about him from the guys, and I wanna see how much of it's true."

Akane grinned. "If that's your plan Ranma, then I wish you luck, you just might need it. I know you're really strong, but Mr. Satan's the World Martial Arts Champion for a reason."

'Although, if anyone realistically had a good chance of beating him in a fair fight, Ranma would definitely be high on that list.' Akane added. 'Buuuuut...he doesn't need to know that.'

"In that case, I'm gonna have to go all out!" Ranma proclaimed.

Ranma dashed off as the Tendo Dojo steadily came into view, Akane in hot pursuit.

[The Kuno Manor]

A dark clad figure snuck it's way into the Kuno manor where Tatewaki Kuno himself stood in the yard, his sword drawn before a dummy of Ranma

"Kuno-senpai!" yelled the dark clothed boy.

"Gosunkugi, what business have you here?" Kuno asked uninterested. "Can't you see I'm busy prepping myself to finally strike down Saotome?"

"Yes, of course, but I bring news that may be of interest to you!" Gosunkugi pleaded.

"And what news would that be?"

"Akane and Saotome are about to head out to see that girl from the picture Nabiki Tendo gave you."

Kuno's eyes widened in interest. "Is this true?" he asked turning to face him. Gosunkugi nodded his confirmation.

"Interesting indeed," Kuno said stroking his chin. "You! I want you to follow them and tell me where their destination lies!" he ordered.

"Yes sir!" Gosunkugi hopped over the fence, leaving the estate as Kuno went back inside.

'That fool better not screw this up,' Kuno thought. 'If he returns with the information I seek, I shall go intoduce myself to that Videl girl, and she can have the honor of loving me along with Akane and the Pigtailed Girl!'

As Kuno drifted into his own deluded daydream he let out a loud hearty laugh that was silenced by something droppig in front of him and exploding in a puff of smoke.

"Oh Brother dear, must you be so loud?" exclaimed Kodachi from the side. "I'm busy working on a new cookie recipe for Ranma Darling and you're boisterous laughing is distracting me!"

Kuno was unable to reply as the smoke from the bomb took it's effect and left him utterly paralyzed.

[Meanwhile]

A familiar young pair exited a bus after a surprisingly lengthy ride, arriving in Satan City.

"Huh. I know this place is named after that Champ guy, but it's WAY too nice here to be called 'Satan City'" Ranma stated.

"I know right?"

Akane pulled out the card Videl gave her yesterday and glanced over the address. "According to the card she gave me, the place we're looking for shouldn't bee too far from here."

"Alright then, let's get goin'!" Ranma instantly bounded off.

"Hang on Ranma, I'm the one with the directions!" Akane called chasing after him.

"I'll find the place. Who do you think I am, Ryoga!?"

"Ranma!"

With that, the duo raced off to reunite with their new friend.

**_(A/N: Okay, I'm gonna be straight, this Chapter is...basically all set up and a little exposition. I didn't even mean for it to come off like this, but ultimately I felt it was a necessary evil. After all, you can't have good action without some preparation, right? Yeah, this is undoubtedly going to be the weakest Chapter in this story, but hopefully, I'll be able to get to the fun stuff soon after...if I'm not distracted with Dragon Ball FighterZ! Seriously that game is SICK! It's already my second favorite DBZ Game (No. 1 is Infinite World for anyone who's curious) and it just came out. So, Ranma learns a bit more about Videl and her father and Kuno has his eyes set on Videl. Stay tuned as next time, Ranma and Akane return to Satan City and meet Videl again...for real this time, I swear.)_ **


	7. Satan City Mystery; The Awaited Reunion

** My Life's Stranger Than Yours **

Satan City Mystery; The Long Awaited Reuninon

***DING* *DONG* *DONG* *DING***

That was the sound of the bell ringing at Orange Star High School. Once the bell tolled, the students began practically pouring out of the building. Two students however made their way through the school's interior. Their destination: the rooftop.

"Phew," Gohan sighed. "Now that class is over, I can't wait to suit up and go on patrol, especially after that mess yesterday," he said. Speaking of however, I don't think I apologized yet for bailing on you like that," he said placing his hand behind his head.

"Don't worry about it Gohan," Videl replied nonchalantly. "I knew you had to get home quickly, and I handled the whole situation easily," she said with a hint of confidence.

"Although," Videl paused. "I think _I_ should apologize for not, being able to go on patrol with you," she stated.

"You're not coming with me?" Gohan asked.

Videl nodded. "Not today."

"How come? Is something going on?" He asked with a concerned tone.

"Oh it's nothing bad," she reassured him. "I just have other plans tonight. You see a friend from out of town is coming over today. What's more is she's a martial artist and she wants to have a match with me."

"Oh, that's neat," Gohan commented. "Do I know them?" Gohan inquired.

"You probably shouldn't considering I just met her yesterday," replied Videl.

"Wait, really?"

"Yeah. She and her sisters got caught up in that robbery escape we were trying to stop. I saved them of course, but she actually managed to help me out of a tight spot," Videl began. "After the bad guys got caught, I offered to fly them home because the bus got wrecked. After that we just kind of hit it off." she concluded.

"Wow. Sounds like yesterday was pretty exciting for you," said Gohan.

'Believe me Gohan, you don't know the half of it,' Videl thought.

As they continued their trek through the school, Videl recalled her trip to the Tendo Dojo. Her unfinished fight with Akane, meeting Ranma, seeing Ranma's curse and that perverted old man, those last two memories causing a faint blush to appear on her face.

Videl's internal flashback was halted when they finally made it to the door to the rooftop. Grrasping the knob, Gohan opened the door and motioned for Videl to enter.

"Heh, ladies first."

"Why thank you," Videl said strutting through the door.

The pair then rushed up the stairs until they finally exited on the rooftop. As Gohan hit the button on his watch and materialized his costume, Videl was already hovering above him.

"Hey Gohan, if you want to meet my new friend, you can," she stated.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Since you're gonna be in the city for a bit, just drop by my Dad's dojo. You know where it is right?"

"Yeah. I've flown past it before."

Ascending into the air, the Great Saiyaman jetted off into the skies of Satan City.

"See ya later!" Videl called. As Saiyaman flew off, she managed to catch a glimpse of him waving back at her. Once he was out of sight, Videl hovered over the gates on the school roof and began to fly her way to Mr. Satan's dojo.

"Okay...assuming our schools let out around the same time, and given how far away Akane's home is from Satan City...I think I should have a good while before she shows up," Videl thought. "Still, I need to get over there and get the place set up."

A short while later, Videl finally came across her father's dojo. To her surprise, there were police officers surrounding the building as well as a couple of ambulances.

"What the-!?"

Hastily landing, Videl rushed over to the Police Captain, aiming to get some answers.

"Captain! Captain!"

The officer in question turned to come face to face with the rapidly approaching Videl.

"Aw Videl, right on cue!" the Captain greeted.

Giving him a quick salute, Videl began, "Captain, what happened here?"

"That's what we aim to find out," the Captain replied tightening his hat. "All we know is that someone trashed your Dad's place."

Videl listened intently as the Captain began to give her the details.

"We were just about to ask questions when you showed up, so we don't have much of anything to go on, although eyewitnesses say they saw an unusual young man fleeing the scene."

"Young man?" Videl repeated.

"Yeah. According to witnesses, a pretty well built guy burst through the door and fled the scene in a rush. The weird thing is he's said to look like a high school student, potentially around your age. Probably just some juvenile punk playing a stupid prank."

As Videl forced her way through the stationed guards and enetered the building to survey the damage, she couldn't keep a gasp from escaping as she witnessed a giant hole smack dab in the center of the dojo. From the looks of it, it looked like someone had blasted the floor apart with some kind of explosive or something, at least, that was the best way Videl could describe it.

'Whoever did this wasn't just playing a prank,' Videl mentally noted, narrowing her eyes.

[Elsewhere, in the city]

A familiar duo were walking down the streets of Satan City, one of them a sour look on his face.

"Are we there yet?" Ranma groaned.

"You know Ranma, whining like a five year old isn't very manly," Akane replied. "I wonder what your mother would think?" Akane smugly added.

Ranma grunted, but held his tongue as he continued to follow Akane.

"Besides, it's your fault it's taking us so long to get there in the first place!" Akane exclaimed. "If you hadn't gone running off when we first got off the bus 'Mr. I'm not Ryoga', we wouldn't have gotten lost in the first place!"

Ranma continued to say nothing. He could see how irritated Akane was right now, and he didn't want to risk setting her off...at least, not without a good reason.

After a few more moments of walking, Akane's face brightened as in the distance, they could see a building with a large, conspicuous picture of Mr. Satan on it.

"Finally! We made it!" Akane beamed. "It's dead ahead!"

Waltzing up next to her, Ranma took a glance at the sign from afar.

"Huh, this guy loves to make an impression, doesn't he?"

Ignoring Ranma, Akane began to dash towards the building, Ranma right behind her.

"Hey wait up!"

As the duo hastily made their way to their destination, their run slowed to a jog before coming to a halt.

"What the-!?" Akane exclaimed.

The two froze as the front of the building was covered with police tape and there were a number of police cars surrounding the building.

"Huh, I've never seen this many police in one place before...actually I don't think I've seen any police back home," Ranma commented.

"Ranma, this is no time for jokes!" Akane snapped.

Rushing up to the scene, she was quickly halted by one of the officers on guard.

"Whoa, whoa, there!" the officer began. "Sorry Miss, but this here's a restricted area," he told her.

"But...what happened?" Akane asked.

"Sorry young lady, but that's classified info," the officer answered.

"It's alright. She's with me," chimed in a familiar female voice.

The trio turned to see Videl, already on the scene.

"Videl!" Akane greeted.

"Yo," added Ranma.

"Oh Videl, these two are friends of yours?" The officer asked.

Videl nodded her confirmation. Giving her a salute, the policeman left the three teens and went to regroup with his squad.

"Glad you could make it Akane," Videl replied. "And Ranma, I admit I wasn't expecting you."

"Yeah well, speaking of unexpected," Ranma pointed to the building. "What the heck happened in there?" he asked.

Videl crossed her arms. "Unfortunately, we're not too sure," she answered. "According to what we know, somebody just broke in out of nowhere, took out all the guys who were inside and made a wreck of the place while doing so."

"That's terrible!"  Akane noted.

"Huh, this ain't the first time we dealt with a Dojo Destroyer, though this may be the first time he _literally_ destroyed the place," commented Ranma.

"Destroyed is an understatement," Videl replied. "Inside it looks like someone blew the place up!" she excentuated with her arms. "Thankfully, the building is still in tact, but it doesn't look like anyone will be training here for a while."

As Videl continued to describe the damage to Akane, Ranma slipped away from the girls and entered the dojo to survey the damage up close, ignoring the police tape as well. Taking a hard glance at the crater that used to be the Satan Dojo, Ranma had a small realization.

"Hey wait, I think this was...!" Ranma's thoughts were cut off by the shouting of one of the officers.

"Hey kid! Just cause you know Videl doesn't mean you can be in here!" the officer yelled.

"Jeeze, I just wanted to see the place myself a bit," Ranma groaned.

'Why do I have a funny feeling I know who did this?' Ranma thought. 'After all, there's only one guy I know who could make a crater like that.'

Crossing his arms behind his head, Ranma strolled out of the dojo and rejoined the girls, who were still talking.

"I'm sorry Akane," Videl began, "But I think we may have to put our match on hold a little while longer. I want to find the punk who did this!"

Akane's expression fell, but she gave an understanding nod. Their exchange was broken by the hearty chuckle of the Police Captain.

"Nonsense. You and your friends can leave everything here to us," said the Captain.

"But Cap-!" Videl began.

"I promise, as soon as we find out anything new, you and your father will be the first ones we'll call," the officer assured her.

Videl momentarily paused. After a brief amount of thought, she gave the Captain an affirmative nod.

"Okay, just promise me one thing," she said.

"What's that?"

"You'll call me _before_ my Dad, cause I want first crack at this guy!"

With a grin, the Captain gave Videl a trademark salute. "Roger that."

As the policeman began to wrap up their business, Videl pulled Ranma and Akane aside.

"Think they'll actually find the guy who did this?" Akane asked.

"Doubt it," Ranma answered.

"What makes you say that?" asked a confused Videl.

"Let's just say...I have a hunch who did this, and if I'm right, it'll be a while before they manage to find him." Ranma replied.

"Wait...you have somebody in mind? Who!?" Videl exclaimed.

Ranma shrugged. "Like I said, I could be wrong, so it doesn't really matter."

"Ranma!" Akane growled.

Videl narrowed her eyes. "So let me get this straight, you have an idea of someone who could be involved in trashing my father's dojo, and you're not gonna tell me?"

Ranma shot Videl a sly look.

"I'll tell ya what," Ranma began. "I'll tell you who I think it is...if you can beat me!"

"Huh?"

Videl froze as she was caught off guard by Ranma's request, as well as Akane's reaction.

"Oh no you don't!" Akane exclaimed, shoving Ranma aside. "In case you forgot Ranma, I'M the one who has the match with Videl!"

"Yeah, yeah, I know already," Ranma groaned. "I'm just saying, once you and Videl are done, I wanna go a round with her too," he said turning back to Videl. "And like I said, if you can beat me, I'll spill my guts."

A confident yet serious smile forming on her face, Videl replied with a very firm, "You're on!"

"Oh! But where are we gonna fight if your dojo's trashed?" Akane asked.

Videl giggled. "Don't worry. For now, we can just let the cops do their thing. If they find out anything new, I trust they'll keep their word and keep me posted," Videl assured them. "In the meantime, I think we ought to head to my place. We can have our matches there. Besides, I have to tell my Dad about the dojo anyway."

At Videl's invitation, Akane once again couldn't help but show her giddiness (through another failed attempt at hiding it), causing Ranma to make a mental note.

'Note to self: Ask Akane about her fangirling later.'

[A few moments later]

After a short walk through the streets, the eager young trio finally arrived at The Satan Manor.

"Well, here we are," Videl said.

"Whoa! It's so big!" Noted a bright eyed Akane.

Even Ranma had to give an impressed whistle at the sheer size of the building. As he and Akane moved to head to the door, they were subsequently halted by Videl who had something of a worried look on her face.

"Uh guys, before we go in, I think I should warn you," Videl began.

"Warn us of what?" asked Ranma.

"For starters, my Dad can get pretty...eccentric at times, so try not to be too put off by his inflated ego," replied Videl.

Akane dismissively waved her hand. "Oh that's no problem. I'm sure whatever ego your Dad has, Ranma has twice of, and I've managed to put up with him thus far."

"HEY!"

"Okay," Videl replied stifling a chuckle. "Second, we have an...unusual houseguest," Videl continued.

"So do I," Akane deadpanned as Ranma crossed his arms.

"Believe me when I say...this guy is...even more...unusual," Videl noted. "With any luck, he won't bother us, but...just...be wary," Videl nervously added.

Ranma and Akane both paused. The fact that there was someone in their house she had to warn them about caused both of them to raise their eyebrows. The thought was ultimately pushed aside for the moment as they followed Videl through the entrance.

"Hellooo!" Videl called.

Her announcement was met with a shrill yelp coupled with the sound of small but quick footsteps.

_"Rarf!"_

Ranma and Akane stepped through the door just in time to see Videl get tackled to the floor by...

"A dog?" asked Ranma.

Sure enough, the stunned Videl was being mercilessly licked by a tan colored dog.

"Take it easy boy! I'm happy to see you too!" Videl said through giggles. Lightly shoving him off her, Videl quickly got back to her feet.

"This is Bee," Videl introduced. "My Dad found him and took him in when he was just a puppy."

"Oh he's so cute!" Akane said kneeling down to pet him.

"Heh, is this the 'unusual friend' you were warnig us about," Ranma chuckled kneeling next to Akane.

"No...but speaking of which, I wonder where Dad is. It doesn't look like he's home," Videl noted. 'Thankfully, it looks like he took Buu with him,' she mentally sighed.

_"Rarf, rarf!"_

As the three young fighters got themselves settled, Bee ran off.

"Where's he goin'?" asked Ranma.

"Wherever he wants I guess. He's a pretty independent dog most of the time," Videl shrugged. "That being said, let's get to the gym, follow me."

[Later]

"Well you two, here we are," Videl stated.

After what may as well been a brief tour of The Satan Manor finally ended when our trio finally arrived in a large spacious room with a giant tile, square ring sat.

"Whoa!" exclaimed Akane. "This looks just like the ring they use in the Tournaments!"

"That's cause it is, but it's much smaller than the real thing," Videl replied. "Still, it's the perfect spot for a gang of martial artists to just go a few friendly rounds."

"Ehh, I dunno about perfect, but it'll do," snarked Ranma.

Akane could only lower her eyebrows at Ranma's disrespect, but then again, she was used to it.

"Akane, if you need a place to change, there's a bathroom right to the side there," Videl motioned with her hand.

"Thanks!"

An excited smile on her face, Akane dashed off in the direction Videl pointed, leaving her alone with Ranma for the moment.

"Okay Ranma, let's chat," Videl said turning to face him.

"Lemme guess, you're still upset about the whole me keepin' quiet about the dojo thing?" Ranma asked.

"Yeah, but what I really want to know is why you're doing it in the first place," Videl replied. "If you just wanted a match with me after Akane, all you had to do is ask."

"Well for starters, the guy I have in mind may be innocent, and I don't wanna give him any heat without being certain, cause Kami knows he's had enough crap to deal with, and the last thing I wanna do is give him something else to blame me for," Ranma said crossing his arms.

Videl placed her hands on her hips, a contemplative look on her face. "Okay, that's fair enough I suppose," she said with a sigh.

"But..." Ranma said.

"But what?"

"There's another reason I issued the challenge," said Ranma.

"What reason?"

"My end of the bargain."

"What do you mean your end?"

"What I get if I beat you," Ranma smirked.

"Whoa, hold on!" Videl snapped. "When did I agree to give you anything!?"

"When you accepted my challenge," Ranma replied. "You win, I tell you who I think trashed your Dad's dojo. Naturally, if I win, I should get something in return."

Videl's eyes sharply narrowed. "But wait, you just said you weren't sure if your 'suspect' was even the real culprit, so for all I know, you're info could just be a waste of time!"

"True, but I'm about 90% sure I have the right guy. I'm...mostly positive this won't be a waste of your time, and if it is, I promise I'll make it up to ya," Ranma reassured her.

Her fist shaking, Videl eventually relented and let out a sigh. ""Fine, Mr. Saotome," she said with disdain in her voice. "What do you want if you win?"

"Easy," Ranma smirked. "I want you to show me how to do that floating trick of yours!"

For a moment, there was nothing but silence as Videl processed Ranma's words.

"Huh?"

"When we fought the old man, I saw you floating in the air to dodge his attack," Ranma began. "I want you to show me how to do that."

Another brief moment of silence passed between them. Suddenly out of nowhere, Videl just broke out into a fit of laughter, much to Ranma's confusion.

"D-did I...say something funny?" Ranma asked.

Wiping away a tear, Videl answered, "No, I'm just laughing at the irony."

"What irony?"

"Sorry it's...an inside joke to be honest, you don't have to worry about it," Videl said, finally managing to compose herself.

'I wonder if this is how Gohan felt when I 'asked' him to teach me how to fly.'

[Elsewhere]

In the skies of Satan City, it's greatest defender let out a loud comical sneeze.

"Huh...wonder who's talking about me?"

[Back at the Satan Manor]

"Still, if that's all you want out of our fight then no problem," Videl said with a warm grin. "Although, if you wanted me to teach you how to fly, all you had to do was ask," Videl quickly added.

"Wait really?" Ranma asked raising an eyebrow.

Before Videl could respond, the duo got distracted by the sound of loud barking from somewhere in the house.

_"Rarf! Rarf, rarf!!"_

"Is that your dog?" said Ranma.

"Bee? What's he barking at?" Videl asked dashing through the door.

Ranma and Videl exited the gym and dashed down a hallway only to find Bee chasing after something small and black, coupled with the sounds of barking and squealing.

"What's that black thing?" Videl asked.

Ranma's eyes dully narrowed. 'I freakin knew it.'

Appearing out of a nearby door, Akane, now garbed in her gi, asked,"What's going on out here?"

The short tempered tomboy paused as she took in the scene before letting out a shrill shriek.

"P-Chan!"

"Who chan?" asked Videl.

"My piggy!"

Akane dashed to the two animals and scooped up P-Chan in one fell swoop. She was quickly approached by Bee who continued to bark as he got on his hind legs still attempting to pursue his small target as Akane held the little piglet above her head, keeping him from the canine's reach.

"Bee! No!" Videl ordered. Motioning with her hand, she called out, "DOWN!"

The zealous dog, followed her commands and removed himself from Akane.

"Now sit," Videl ordered.

Bee obeyed and sat down. Relieved that Bee was behaving himself again, Videl bent down and rubbed his head.

As Akane let out her own relieved sigh that her pet piglet was safe now, Ranma gave the small mammal a suspicious look.

'Don't get too comfy yet Ryoga,' Ranma thought. 'I got a couple questions for ya.'

[A few minutes later]

The three teens, joined by their four legged friends were reassembled back in the gym, P-Chan in Akane's arms and Bee lying down by the door.

"Sorry about that Akane," said Videl. "Bee's usually really well behaved. I don't know why he went after your pet piglet."

"Oh it's okay," Akane replied. "P-Chan has a bad habit of wandering off and getting lost. Maybe this will teach him to stay closer to home," Akane said clutching him against her chest.

As P-Chan let out a satisfied squeal as he snuggled up against Akane. His squealing became much more erratic as he was snatched out of Akane's hands by Ranma.

"Hey!" Akane shouted.

"What's the big idea, Ranma?"

"What? You two have a match to fight right?" Ranma reminded them. "I'm just gonna keep an eye on our little friend here and make sure the dog doesn't try to get him again while you two fight it out." Ranma said narrowing his eyes.

"Hmmmmm..." hummed a suspicious Akane. She was well aware that Ranma and P-chan didn't really like each other, but for the moment, he was the only one who could make sure Bee didn't try to attack him again. After some brief thought, she relented.

"Alright fine, but be nice Ranma, cause I know how you two are, and if anything happens to him Ranma, I'll..."

"Relax," Ranma cut her off. "Pup Chow here will be just fi-AAAIIIIEEE!!"

Ranma was cut off by P-Chan biting down on his finger.

"Hmph, serves you right."

As the girls stepped towards the ring, Ranma narrowed his eyes at the little black piglet, who was still attached to his finger.

"Yo Ryoga," he whispered. "I'm fightin' the Videl chick after Akane, but after that, we seriously need to talk."

The small animal shot Ranma an angry squeal, but quickly silenced when he saw the serious look on Ranma's face. Opening his mouth, he released himself from Ranma and landed on the floor.

[With the Girls]

Now that there were no more distractions, both girls stepped into the ring and took their respective fighting stances.

"Sorry to keep you waiting Akane," Videl said.

"For a battle like this, I have plenty of patience," Akane replied. "And this time, we're playing this through to the end!" she firmly added.

"You know it!"

Ranma sat cross legged by the ring, P-Chan beside him. As the girls finished prepping themselves, he took note of the look of intensity on Akane's face.

'Huh, I know Akane said she's been looking forward to this fight, but I didn't think it was this much.'

Glancing at Videl, he noticed her expression was similar to Akane's though notably more relaxed.

'Hmm...I saw a glimpse of what she could do before on Nabiki's camera, but this'll be the first time i get to see her fight for real up close and personal. Now the question is, will she use her flying move against Akane this time?' Ranma thought.

After a brief moment of staring each other down, waiting for the other to make the first move, both girls simultaneously rushed at each other, their fists drawn back to strike.

"You ready Akane!?"

"I was born ready Videl!"

'Showtime!'

**_[To Be Continued; Cue Roundabout]_ **

**_(A/N: Cliffhanger, hanging from a CLIFF...and that's why he's called Cliff Hanger[If you get that reference, you had a great childhood]! Yup, another chapter of buildup, I apologize. But on the upside, Gohan finally makes an appearance, as does everyone's favorite Lost Boy, who's coincidental appearance now is_ ** **COMPLETELY _unrelated to Mr. Satan's dojo! Gohan's gonna be a bit less active for the moment, but I intend to make him a more active player once he gets properly acquainted with the Ranma 1/2 Crew. When that'll happen, I can't say for sure, but hopefully it'll be within the next chapter or two. All that said, stay tuned!)_**


	8. Fierce Rematch and Friendly Rivals; Videl vs. Akane Round 2

** My Life's Stranger Than Yours **

_ Fierce Rematch and Friendly Rivals; Videl vs. Akane Round 2 _

"Hiiyah!"

The two girls both threw straight punches at each other that the other girl easily caught. Neither one of them relinquishing their grip on the other, the two were locked in a stalemate as they breifly stood in the center of the ring grasping each other's fist.

With a grin, Videl winked at Akane who retaliated with an understanding nod. Both girls released their grips and took a few steps backwards, essentially setting their bout back to square one.

"The fight just started and it already seems like we're evenly matched," Akane commented.

"Not quite," chuckled a boastful Videl.

Her eyes narrowed with determination, Akane struck with a fierce right hook. Videl easily ducked under Akane's blow and fired off a sweep kick that caused Akane to fall over. However, Akane managed to catch herself and backflip back onto her feet, only to be met with a boot to the gut by Videl, causing her to stumble backwards clutching her stomach.

Quickly recovering from Videl's last attack, Akane rushed forward and threw a fierce roundhouse kick. Videl countered with one of her own and their legs clashed together back in the center of the ring. After a brief moment of inactivity, Videl felt her leg twinge with a surge of pain, causing her to retreat and take a knee.

"If you thought that was tough, just you wait! I'll show you my full strength!" Akane declared.

As Videl rubbed her shin, she subsequently began to consider her next move.

'I forgot, Akane's got some pretty insane strength,' Videl recalled. 'I'll have to keep moving, don't give her a chance to hit me at all.'

Rising to her feet, Videl took a fighting stance as she prepared for Akane's next attack.

As the girls stood poised to attack, Ranma was mentally commentating the entire fight.

'That Videl chick's pretty quick,' Ranma noted. 'I've seen and fought faster, but she's definitely faster than Akane at least. Still this fight does seem pretty even right now, but who knows what'll happen next. She hasn't used her floating move yet, but if Akane hits a vital spot, she might not get a chance to.'

As Ranma continued to watch the fight, he was soon approached by Bee who decided he wanted to lay his head down on Ranma's lap.

"Heh, so you wanted a better view huh?" Ranma said petting his head.

The battle raged on as Akane threw a volley of punches at Videl, who seamlessly dodged and parried the assault. Unfortunately for Videl, Akane's attack speed was greater than she'd anticipated and some of her punches broke through Videl's defenses forcing her back.

As Akane went on to continue her attack, Videl managed to straighten herself up. Steeling herself, she began to counter with her own barrage of punches. For a moment, both girls seemed to be at stalemate as they furiously traded blows with each other. The stalemate continued as the two clashed forearms with each other, both girls trying to overpower the other.

"You ready to give up yet?" taunted Videl.

"Not a chance!" Akane said sternly.

Though Videl was holding her ground, she was eventually forced to take a step backwards due to Akane's superior strength. With a grunt, Akane used all the force she could muster and shoved Videl back, causing her to lose her balance and stumble.

Akane tried to follow up with an overhead slam, but Videl was able to roll aside causing the attack to miss and Akane to strike the ring, leaving a small but notable crack.

Videl's eyes briefly widened in surprise. She knew Akane was strong from the last time they fought, but strong enough to break the ring with her bare hands? That was cause for some alarm.

"An opening!"

Videl's thoughts were cut off by the steps of the quickly approaching Akane. Leaping in the air, the anything-goes fighter wound up for a full strength punch, and with a fierce yell fired off what she intended to be a decisive blow.

"This is the end!"

Almost instinctively, Videl launched herself skyward and, with a flip, glided over Akane, avoiding her attack, and landed gently back on her feet.

'Did she just...!?' thought a stunned Akane. 'Is that what Ranma was talking about before?'

Akane couldn't dwell on the thought for too long as, in her current position, she was unable to stop herself and kept moving until she landed out of the ring, her punch slamming into and through the wall.

With a grin, Videl dropped her fighting stance and walked to the edge of the ring.

"Looks like it's my win," she said.

"Wait, what!?" exclaimed a shocked Akane.

"You said it yourself Akane, this ring is just like the one they use in the Tournaments, so naturally the rules apply to it as well." Videl replied.

"Yeah...I guess that makes sense," sighed a downtrodden Akane. "But..."

"Oh come on Akane, can't you just take your loss with a little dignity?" teased Ranma.

Immediately becoming annoyed at Ranma's words she fiercly replied, "Ranma! You of all people don't get to tell me that! And I can still fight!"

"You sure about that Akane cause, your lookin' a little stuck," noted Ranma.

Sure enough, Akane tried to pull her hand out of the wall only to find that it wasn't budging. She was indeed stuck.

"Hey...come...on!"

Steadily growing more frustrated, Akane continued to try to free her hand from the wall, but to no avail.

Both Ranma and Videl approached Akane with intent to help her with her, predicament. However, as soon as they both made it, Akane finally managed to force her hand free.

"Got it!" she triumphantly announced.

Before anyone could make another action, there was the sound of a low rumbling coming from right beside the trio.

"Uhhh...what's that?" asked Ranma.

"Akane...when you hit the wall...did you feel anything metallic?" added Videl.

"Yeah...?" Akane cautiously answered.

"I think you might've hit a pipe!" alarmed Videl.

"Huh!?"

"Wait do you mean a water...?"

Before Ranma could finish, Videl leapt aside as the wall erupted forth a gush of water that left both he and Akane drenched.

"Way to go," Female Ranma sarcastically said.

"Oh shut up."

Wading through the large puddle that now filled the room, Videl approached the other two girls to check on them.

"Are you two okay?" Videl asked.

"Cold, wet, and annoyed, but fine," Ranma answered.

Shaking herself off, Ranma nonchalantly took her shirt off and began to wring it out.

"What're you...!" exclaimed a frantically blushing Videl. "Do you always take your shirt off like that when you get wet!?"

"No, but at least there are only girls in here..." Ranma replied. "Unless of course you count them," she added pointing to the rapidly scampering Bee and P-Chan.

"Just...put your shirt back on before I change my mind about fighting you!" Videl said looking away.

"Okay, okay, geeze!" Ranma sighed.

As Ranma shook her shirt out before putting it back on, Videl pulled Akane aside and the two girls stepped out of the room.

"Is he...she...always so...?" Videl began.

"Pretty much," Akane deadpanned.

'Figures...' Videl thought.

"Look...I'm sorry about...cracking the wall and the whole pipe thing," Akane bashfully apologized. "I just...sometimes get a bit intense when I'm in the zone."

"I think intense is an understatement," Videl replied. "Not only did you break through the wall, you cracked the ring a bit too," she recalled.

Akane sheepishly grinned, putting her hands behind her back. "Again...I'm sorry for...that."

"Don't worry about it too much," Videl assured her. "My Dad'll have to call someone to fix the pipe and the wall," 'Unless he can somehow get Buu to do it,' she mentally added. "But all of us should be able to clean up all the water without much of a hitch."

Akane let out a sigh she hadn't even realized she was holding in, relieved that Videl didn't seem to be angry. Her expressioned brightened and she said with a determined tone, "Alright then, let's get to work!"

Akane moved to go back in the room, but was quickly stopped by Videl.

"Hey what're you...?"

"Before you get started, you should probably get out of those wet clothes ASAP."

Akane looked down, realizing that her gi was still dripping wet.

"Hehe, good point," Akane giggled.

Akane dashed back into the bathroom she changed in earlier only to be met with a very disappointing discovery.

"Oh NO!!"

Ranma and Videl (and P-Chan. Can't forget him) rushed to Akane's side to find that thehole Akane punched in the dojo wall extended into the adjacent bathroom and had also been flushed out from the pipe burst. Unfortunately for Akane, she'd left her clothes in the room and now they were sopping wet as well.

"Jeeze Akane, I've seen you crack walls before, but either you need a lesson in restraint, or Videl and her old man need to make their walls outta stronger stuff than...whatever this is," Ranma quipped.

"Shut it!" Akane exclaimed throwing an irritated punch at Ranma, that the latter dodged.

"Whoa now, take it easy you two!" Videl said stepping in between them. "We need to get this place cleaned up ASAP," Videl reminded them.

"But I didn't flood the place, so why do I have to clean up her mess!?" Ranma shrieked pointing an accusing finger at Akane.

"Nevermind her for now," Videl responded, narrowing an eye. "Like I said, Akane's gonna help us clean this up too, we're just gonna head upstairs and get her some dry clothes first."

"Well what about me?" Ranma said motioning to her still wet outfit.

"Well if you want, I could probably lend you one of my Dad's old robes," Videl suggested.

Ranma thought about it for a brief moment before dismissing the idea.

"Naah, I don't think I'm in the mood for old man smell on me right now."

Akane smirked. "You know, since Ranma's in female form right now, maybe something of _yours_ can fit him," she said to Videl.

"NO!" Ranma snapped.

Videl couldn't help but chuckle at Ranma's reaction.

"Alright, it's your call, but both offers are open if you change your mind."

Videl and Akane both strolled out of the room leaving an irritated Ranma alone.

"Tsk, women," Ranma huffed.

"You would know, considering you are one," chimed in a familiar male voice.

Ranma turned to the ring to see Ryoga standing in human form, his arms crossed.

"How the heck did you change back?" Ranma asked.

"The bathroom sink. When Akane broke the pipe, it put the shower out of commission, but the sink still works fine. As for how I got through the puddle, well, I think you can figure that out," Ryoga answered.

"Whadaya want P-Chan?" Ranma teased.

"That's my line," countered Ryoga. "You said you needed to talk to me, and from the look on your face, it seemed important."

Ranma clapped her fist in her hand. "Oh right! Before we get to that however..."

Ranma grabbed an empty bucket and mop and tossed them at Ryoga who effortlessly caught them.

"Lend me a hand here, would ya?"

"Hmph, why should I lower yourself to doing your dirty work for you?" Ryoga smarmed.

"Cause the longer this water stays down here, the bigger the risk of Akane seeing you transform is." Ranma stated.

Ryoga froze for a moment before twirling the mop in his hand.

"Begone foul liquid!!"

[With the girls]

Akane and Videl were up in Videl's bedroom, the former stripped down to her skivvies, and the latter laying out a spread of outfits for Akane to change into.

"Well, it's not all too fashionable, but something here should suffice until your clothes are out of the dryer," Videl stated.

Akane picked up a set consisting of a long-sleeve yellow shirt and white shorts, and pressed them against her body.

"Are you kidding? You have really great taste."

"You think so?" Videl asked.

Akane nodded as she began to put the outfit on. Once she was finished, Videl's eyes widened. As Akane glossed herself over in the mirror, Videl had only one response.

"That looks...almost perfect on you," Videl complimented.

"You really think so!?" Akane beamed.

Videl quickly tossed another outfit in Akane's direction, this time a large, loose fitting tunic style shirt with the word "FIGHT" sprawled across it, coupled with white pants. Akane once again slipped it on. Once again, Videl was taken aback by how...fitting her clothes seemed to be for Akane.

Videl repeated this one more time, this time with light-blue dress, pink-ish colored pants, and a bright yellow jacket. Once again, it seemed to be a perfect fit once Akane tried it on.

"Okay, now this is getting weird," Videl said raising an eyebrow. "Are we the same sizes?"

"I don't know...are we?" Akane asked.

"Let's find out. What are your three sizes?" Videl asked.

"Sorry but I can't answer that," Akane replied.

"Why not?"

"Because the author doesn't know what they are," Akane answered.  "And for that matter, I doubt he knows what yours are, so we can't even do a comparison."

"Good point..."

"Still, I think it's safe to say we do have the same body type at least," Akane added, striking a small pose.

"Well my body type is strong, sporty, and tough as nails," Videl proclaimed, striking her own flirtatious, yet victorious pose.

"Then I was right," Akane said with a wink.

"Although...I do think you look a touch more...curvier than I do," Videl admitted.

"What makes you say that?" Akane asked.

Videl quickly discarded her larger white shirt, leaving her in only her pink athletic tee. She then turned towards the mirror and motioned for Akane to do the same.

"I'm perfectly fine with how I look," Videl started "But you just look like you have that small bit of extra...something."

Akane posed in the mirror and gave herself a once over.

"You think so?" Akane asked.

"Just look."

Akane looked at herself in the mirror, then back at Videl and she started to see what Videl was getting at.

While they did have comparable builds, Videl was notably thinner in the arms, thighs, and chest compared to Akane herself.

'Wow, I really am a curvier than she is,' Akane mentally noted. As the thought crossed her mind, she had a sudden realization.

'Wait, so is Videl saying...she's jealous that I have bigger boobs than her?' Akane thought. 'I don't know if that's true or not but I'll take it!!' As Akane's latest victory fantasy flashed through her mind, Videl let out a small laugh.

"What's so funny?" Akane asked.

"Look at us," Videl began. "One second we're trying to pound each other into the tile, the next we're sharing clothes and comparing body types."

As soon as the words left Videl's mouth, Akane couldn't help but giggle at the irony herself.

"Ya know, despite only knowing each other for a couple of days, I think you're the fastest person I've ever warmed up to like this," Videl admitted.

"Really?"

Videl nodded. "The last person on that list was actually my boyfriend, and it took me WAY longer than a couple of days for me to even see him as a friend."

Akane lowered an eyebrow. "You know, the more you keep bringing up this mysterious boyfriend of yours, the more you make me want to meet him."

Videl snickered. "Well then, you're in luck."

"Huh?"

"I actually had to leave him after school so I could catch up with you and Ranma, and I just so happened to invite him over to the dojo," Videl explained.

"But wait, isn't your dojo-?" Akane asked.

Videl snapped her fingers in frustration. "Dammit! I knew I forgot something! Excuse me Akane, I need to make a phone call!"

Videl quickly zipped out of the room to find a phone. Before she did however, she had a few last minute things to say to Akane, "You can check my wardrobe and see if you find something you like, but don't take too long, cause we still need to clean up the dojo," Videl ordered.

"Right."

"Also, try not to make a mess in here."

"No problem

"Last thing, are you sure you can find your way back down to the ring? This place is pretty big, and I don't want you to get lost."

Akane confidently chuckled. "No biggie. Unlike a couple of friends of mine, I have a flawless sense of direction.

[In the Ring]

"ACHOOO!"

The two young boys in the room gave each other weird glances following their simultaneous sneezes.

"That was weird," said Ranma.

"Nevermind that, just get back to work and dump this water already!" shouted Ryoga.

A devilish grin rising on his face, Ranma picked up the bucket and chucked it at Ryoga, konking him in the head and dumping it's contents over him transforming him back into a tiny, angrily squealing, piglet.

"Well I dumped it, but ya should've said where buddy," Ranma taunted.

His taunt was met with the tiny rapid kicks of the furious P-Chan.

[Back with Akane]

Akane began rumaging through Videl's wardrobe sliding through a large assortment of shirts, shorts, and other apparel. When she found a set that caught her eye, she took it out and pressed it against her body in the mirror.

"Hmmmm..." humming her discontent, Akane threw the outfit on the bed and repeated the process with another. '

'I know she said to be quick and not make a mess, but there are a few outfits in here I just HAVE to try!' left to her own devices, Akane continued to try on more clothes.

[Meanwhile, in Satan City]

A familiar figure clad in greena nd wrapped in a red cape was zooming his way through the skies. Though he usually flies at a brisk easy pace, right now he seemed to be flying in a rush.

'Man, I can't believe someone did that to Mr. Satan's dojo.' Saiyaman thought. 'Man, I wish I could've gotten there earlier,' he lamented. 'Oh well, at least nobody was seriously hurt.'

As flew through the skies, he began a mental checklist of all the facts he received from the police when he did arrive on the scene.

'So, according to the police, Videl already knows about this, so I gues it's safe to say Mr. Satan does too. However, they don't know all this new info the Captain told me about," Saiyaman recalled.

'The Captain said he promised Videl would be the first to learn about anything new, but then I showed up after they finished asking questions. I'll tell her what he told me, I just hope she doesn't get upset about this.'

As Great Saiyaman finished his mental checklist, he found himself approaching Mr. Satan's manor.

"Ahh, made it!" Saiyaman said aloud.

As he hovered over the large building, he flew around to the side and landed on the second floor balcony that led into Videl's room.

Taking his helmet off, Gohan looked through the balcony window, which was obscured by a curtain, and could make out a clearly female silhouette.

'Ah, there she is.'

"Hey, Videl! It's me!" Gohan called while knocking on the window.

Now, Gohan knew how to control his strength (unlike some OTHER saiyans), but despite him being 100% sure he was knocking with a normal degree of force, to his surprise, the balcony door slid open accompanied with an ear shattering 'CREAK'.

Once the door opened completely, Gohan's face lit up with a crimson red hue as he came face to face with a short haired girl, who clearly WASN'T Videl, clad in nothing but a white bra and panty set.

There was an awkward stretch of silence as the two stared each other in the eye. All of a sudden, the girl knelt down into a ball to hide herself and let out an shrill, ear piercing scream.

**"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!"**

**_(To Be Continued)  
[Cue Roundabout!]_ **

**_(A/N: Well...that was something. So Akane finally gets her long awaited rematch as well as a little bit of down time with her new friendly rival, but the antics don't slow down as a new player finally makes his way into the game. Stay tuned as next time, Ranma and friends meet Videl's 'Mysterious Boyfriend'.)_ **

**_P.S.: When Akane is trying on Videl's clothes, we all know where the first two outfits come from, but who knows where the third one is from?_ **


	9. First Impressions; Meet Son Gohan

** My Life's Stranger Than Yours **

 

_ First Impressions; Meet Son Gohan _

[The Ring]

"Knock it...off!!" Strained an irritated Ranma

After childishly turning Ryoga back into his cursed form, a chuckling Ranma was tackled by the furious piglet who attached himself to Ranma's face. As Ranma fervorishly tried to pry P-Chan off, the two bitter rivals paused as the heard a familiar female voice.

_"Kyaaaaaaaaaa!"_

"Akane?...AKANE!"

With P-Chan holding on for dear life to Ranma's pigtail, the red clad fighter quickly dashed his way out of the ring hall and towards the first staircase he encountered.

[With Akane]

"Gyaaaaaaaaah!"

Gohan let out a fearful shriek of his own as he took a cautious step backwards, slipping on the cape he was wearing and falling on his backside.

"Who...who are you...?" Gohan asked. "Where's Videl?"

His question fell on deaf ears as Akane nigh instinctively grabbed the first large object she could and chucked it at her assailant, which in this case was Videl's wardrobe, many of her clothes falling out.

With a panicked yelp, Gohan quickly got to his feet and caught the large closet with ease. Akane paused with shock as she saw this strange boy's display of strength.

'He...caught it...!? But...how did...how is he...!?'

Akane couldn't dwell on the thought for long as in the next instance, the door burst open and she turned to the sound of her name being called.

"AKANE!"

"Ranma!"

Ranma burst through the door, with P-Chan on his head, kicking it in and rushing over to Akane's side.

"What's going o-Gyaaah!!?" Ranma cut himself off and took a panicked step backwards as he noticed Akane was a bit...exposed at the moment.

"Kyaaaah! Don't look!!" Akane shrieked throwing a shirt at Ranma and curling into a ball to cover herself again.

As he removed the piece of clothing from his face, Ranma looked to find a guy in a strange costume over on the balcony putting a wardrobe down to the side.

"What the hell is that guy?"

"I don't know! He just came through the door and saw me in my underwear!" Akane blurted out, now wrapped in a sheet.

"Wait really?" Ranma quickly asked. "Then how come he's not out cold on the floor yet? Your tomboy macho-ness run out or something!?" he teased.

"Ranma listen! There's something strange about this guy," Akane warned. "I threw that wardrobe at him and he caught it...easily!"

"Seriously!?" Ranma exclaimed. 'This dude must be pretty strong,' Ranma concluded.

Cracking his knuckles, Ranma prepared to dash at Akane's assailant. Before he could however, an angrily squealing P-Chan hopped off of Ranma's head and launched himself at the mysterious attacker. Unfortunately, his aim was off and he wound up sailing past the strange boy and going over the edge of the balcony.

"P-Chan!" Akane shrieked.

As the black piglet sailed over the balcony rails, Gohan quickly caught him with one hand before he could fall too far out of reach.

"You okay little guy?" he said to the piglet. His question was met with a hard bite to the finger.

"Ow!" instinctively shaking his hand at the piglet's bite, Gohan unintentionally threw him off his finger and over the side of the balcony.

Worried for the animal's safety, Gohan let out a sigh of relief as he saw the black piglet land in Mr. Satan's outdoor hot tub, which luckily was still full of water.

"An opening!"

Thanks to P-Chan's distraction, Ranma was able to dash to the boy nigh instantaneously and fire off a fierce punch. To Ranma's surprise though, he was able to catch his punch with his free hand with seemingly little effort.

'Wait, what!?'

Ranma followed up with another punch from his free hand, but his opponent merely swayed away from his attack. His frustration steadily rising, Ranma attacked with a downward axe kick that once again, his foe dodged. This time however, Ranma was able to follow up by pivoting on his foot and attacking with a spinning round kick that Gohan blocked with his forearm.

With Ranma wide open, Gohan put his hand on his chest and lightly shoved Ranma backwards, making him skid across the floor back into Videl's room.

'Who is this guy? Ranma hasn't even touched him yet,' Akane noted.

'Akane wasn't kidding,' Ranma thought. 'This guy's good, and I don't think he's even trying yet!'

Ranma quickly rushed back into the fray when Gohan frantically threw his hands forward.

"Please, hold on a minute!" Gohan pleaded.

Ranma paused his movements, but kept his defensive stance, cautiously waiting for Gohan's next move.

"Okay pal, what's your deal?" Ranma demanded. "Who even are you?"

"Look, I can explain," Gohan began taking a step forward. "Look...I know how bad this looks, but I assure you I wasn't trying to do anything inappropriate," Gohan stated. "I was just looking for Videl!"

"Videl?" asked Ranma.

"What do you want with her you creep!?" Akane exclaimed.

"What's with all the yelling in here!?" shouted a female voice.

All eyes turned to the door to see Videl, her eyes lightly narrowed.

"Videl!" everyone called out.

Videl's expression briefly fell as she saw Akane wrapped in a blanket, her clothes scattered around the room, her wardrobe was WAY out of place, and let out a surprised gasp when her eyes fell on Ranma attacking (and failing) her boyfriend.

"Gohan? When'd you get here?" Videl asked.

"Just a minute ago," Gohan shakily replied.

"Gohan?" Akane raised an eyebrow.

"What the hell does rice have to do with anything?" Ranma asked.

"Ehhh...she's talking about me," Gohan said raising his hand.

"Wait...you know him?" Akane asked.

"Of course I know him, he's my boyfriend." Videl replied.

There was a brief moment of total silence as the Nerima natives processed what Videl just told them.

"EHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!?"

" _He's_ your boyfriend?" Akane exclaimed.

"Wait, you _have_ a boyfriend?" Ranma raised an eyebrow.

"Yes and yes," Videl answered. "Now if you wouldn't mind answering my question, what the hell happened in here!?"

"I'll tell you what happened!" Akane exclaimed. "That peeping tom walked in on me while I was changing!" she said pointing in the boys' direction.

"What!?" Videl replied sharply narrowing her eyes at the boys.

Both boys froze up as Videl steadily approached them, a look of fury on her face.

"I swear it was an accident!" Gohan blurted out, frantically waving his arms.

As soon as she heard Gohan's 'confession,' Videl froze in her tracks.

"Wait a sec Gohan, you're who Akane was talking about?" Videl asked.

Gohan let out an awkward, embarrassed chuckle as he sheepishly put his arm behind his head.

'I feel bad for this guy, but at least Akane can't get mad at me for this,' Ranma thought relieved.

"Okay, it's obvious a lot of craziness just happened that needs to be sorted out, but first things first, can we PLEASE get this place cleaned up!?"

Everybody in the room remained frozen for a brief respet of time until they all simultaneously nodded their heads in agreement.

"Alright. You boys, can finish cleaning up the dojo while Akane and I fix my room back up."

"Yes ma'am!" exclaimed Gohan.

Both boys scampered out of the room, closing the door behind them. Once the boys were gone, Videl let out an irritated sigh as she placed a hand to her forehead.

"Boys, am I right?" said Akane.

"We'll discuss them later," Videl replied. "Right now, you think you can tell me EXACTLY what happened here?"

Videl motioned to all her clothes scatterered across the room and her now empty wardrobe lying on the floor.

Akane let out an embarrassed chuckle as she tightened her grip on the blanket she was wearing.

"I might've...thrown your wardrobe...at your boyfriend...." Akane shamefully admitted.

Videl raised an eyebrow in surprise and slight disbelief.

"What?"

'She's the same age, height, and build as me and she was able to throw a wardrobe full of clothes halfway across the room? She can't be as strong as Gohan or the others, but seriously, how strong is she?'

Videl shook her head, coming out of her mental monologue.

"You know what, never mind. Just help me pick all this stuff up then we'll get your clothes out of the dryer. They've GOT to be done by now. After that, we'll meet up with the boys."

Akane nodded and got to work assisting Videl in cleaning up the mess _she_ made.

"Oh and Akane," Videl started. "Try not to be too harsh on Gohan. Despite...whatever happened, trust me, he's not that kind of guy."

Akane slightly narrowed her eyes. "I'll...take your word for it...for now," 'But I'll believe it when I see it,' she mentally added.

[With the boys]

Ranma and Gohan were both hard at work mopping up the remaining water that covered the dojo floor.

"Man, where'd all this water even come from?" Gohan asked.

"Akane smashed the wall, busted a pipe and damn near flooded the place," Ranma grunted.

"That other girl from before?" asked a surprised Gohan. "Huh...come to think of it, she did throw that closet at me, and it was full of clothes," Gohan recalled. "She must be pretty strong to do all that."

"Speaking of strength you seem pretty strong yourself to be able to catch the thing Akane threw at you, and defend against my attacks," Ranma said.

Gohan backpedaled at Ranma's words, nervously scratching his head.

"Okay Rice Boy, spill it, you a martial artist?" Ranma asked

"Uh...well..."

Gohan was hesitant to answer. Ever since the Tournament, and everyone losing their memories of Majin Buu, he'd been trying his hardest to keep his true power a secret. Although, now that he thought back to their skirmish, he couldn't help but notice that Ranma had a higher energy signal than your average person.

Actually, he had higher energy than Videl who, despite still being somewhat new to harnassing energy, also had higher power than the average person.

With a regretful sigh, Gohan hesitantly nodded his confirmation.

"Yeah I am...sort of," he answered.

"Whadaya mean 'Sort Of'?" asked Ranma.

"I do practice martial arts, although not very often," Gohan replied. "Up until recently, I haven't trained seriously for a long time."

Ranma crossed his arms, not convinced. Ranma's not someone who's very easy to defend against in any sense of the word. The fact that Gohan was able to was enough to pique his interest.

"Yo Gohan."

"Yeah?"

"Why don't we go a quick round once all this water's cleared out?" asked Ranma.

"What? Why?"

"If holding me off is just a small bit of what a 'Sort-Of' martial artist can do, then I wanna see what else he has to offer. Besides, since we're actually in a fighting ring right now, there's no better time or place like the present," said Ranma.

"But...shouldn't we get back to the girls first?" Gohan reminded him. "I still need to apologize to your friend, and it's best not to keep Videl waiting."

Having said his piece, Gohan turned back to the water bucket and continued mopping up the water.

None to pleased with being written off, an overzealous Ranma zipped over to Gohan's position. Unfortunately, as he approached him, Ranma failed to notice the position of Gohan's cape on the floor and wound up tripping on it, crashing and falling into Gohan and a water bucket, it's contents dousing them, and the bucket landing on Ranma's head.

As Gohan shook water out of his hair and wrung out his cape, he asked, "Ranma are you alright?"

Ranma disgruntly lifted the bucket off his head and sarcastically replied, "Peachy."

Gohan took a harsh double take when he saw and heard Ranma when he...she pulled the bucket off her head. The awkward saiyan quickly zipped away from the now female Ranma as she slowly got to her feet.

"Wait a sec...who...what...Ranma!?" exclaimed a dumbfounded Gohan.

"Yeah it's me," she answered.

"Wha-? What...happened...? You're a...?" Gohan stammered.

"Long story short, it's a curse. Cold water makes me a girl, hot water, back to a boy, and before you ask, I'm regularly a boy." Ranma exclaimed.

"A curse?" Gohan asked. "Like magic?"

Ranma nodded. "You're more accepting of this than I expected," she admitted.

"Well...I've seen a lot of crazy things, so while your curse is definitely strange, it's admittedly not too out there," Gohan replied.

Ranma looked at Gohan with a somewhat surprised look, but ultimately just let it go. Gohan knew about the curse, he accepted it easily, let's just move on. Although, now that she took a look at Gohan, she did remember something.

"Actually, if you don't mind, I've got a question for you," Ranma began.

"I already said I'm not gonna fight you," Gohan replied.

"Not that. I was gonna ask, what the hell's up with your outfit? And what's with the cape?"

Gohan took a moment to look over himself and then mentally cursed himself as he realized that in all this confusion, he forgot to change back into his normal clothes.

Gohan once again let out an embarrassed chuckle. His expression becoming more straight faced, Gohan said, "Well...Ranma you showed me your secret...I guess it's only fair I share mine...as long as you can keep it a secret."

Ranma shot Gohan a confused looks, but nonetheless shrugged and nodded.

"The truth is...I am..."

Gohan paused a struck a quick series of poses before finishing.

"The ally of Justice, Great Saiyaman!"

Ranma had a bead of sweat rolling down his head as he watched Gohan strike a more bombastic finishing pose.

"Soo...you're some kind of Superhero...?" asked an unimpressed Ranma.

"Yeah...like I said before, I do still practice martial arts, and I admit, I have plenty of power," Gohan began. "But I'm not exactly the type who goes out looking for more strength unless I really need it. I much prefer to use the power I have to help out those who can't help themselves."

Though reluctantly, Ranma gave Gohan an empathetic look.

"I can respect that. After all, protecting the weak is part of a martial artists essence." Ranma stated. "Although, I wonder what kind of hero peeps on innocent girls?" she joked.

Gohan stumbled over, embarrasment evident on his face.

"T-that was an accident!" Gohan exclaimed. "I was looking for Videl because I needed to tell her something important!"

"Tell her what?" Ranma asked.

"You know about her Dad's dojo getting destroyed, right?"

Ranma raised her eyebrows. "Oh yeah! I almost forgot about that."

"Well, when I showed up, the officer gave me some info on their prime suspect, and I was rushing to her place to tell her, and...well, you can figure out the rest," Gohan said.

"What'd they tell you?" asked Ranma.

"I'll let you know once this place is cleaned up because Videl should probably be the first one to know this."

Ranma sighed but nodded. "Alright, let's get this done already!" she exclaimed grabbing a mop.

Gohan nodded in agreement and went to grab his equipment. With no more words, they got back to work.

[A short moment later]

Everyone was assembled in the living room, a now male Ranma sitting nonchalantly beside Akane (who finally got her newly dried clothes back on) who had their eyes fixated on a nervous looking Gohan, who was now back in his regular clothes.

Videl stood up and got the 'meeting' underway.

"Okay, let's start with introductions." she motioned to Gohan.

Gohan hesitantly stood up and interrupted the intro.

"Actually, before we begin, I first want to apologize for...what happened before," he said bowing to Akane. "Like I said it was all an accident and I hope I didn't offend you.

Akane's expression notably softened when she heard the sincerety in his voice. Actually she was completely at a loss for words since it's not often she gets such a...straightforward apology.

'I didn't expect him to be so...polite,' Akane thought.

"It...it's fine...I guess," Akane hesitantly replied. "But still, you really should knock before going into someone else's house, even if it is you'r girlfriend's!" she quickly added.

"I did knock," Gohan countered. "I landed on the balcony and saw a girl through the curtain and thought it was Videl. When I knocked on the door it just...came open on it's own."

Akane's narrowed an eyebrow in suspicion. "Sorry but I find that a bit hard to believe."

"It's actually easier to believe than you'd think," Videl chimed in. "You see the latch on the balcony door is...faulty to say the least. It usually stays locked but sometimes the latch will come undone with enough force...I've been meaning to have someone fix that for a while now..." Videl trailed off.

"Oh! Yeah, then that might've been my fault. I was pounding on the door pretty hard," Gohan admitted.

Akane crossed her arms and nodded. "No, like you said, it was an accident."

"Then if it's all the same to you, can we at least start over?" Gohan asked extending a hand.

After a brief pause, Akane shot Gohan a small smile and shook his hand. "Sure."

While Videl breathed a sigh of relief that Akane and Gohan were on good terms for now, Ranma was watching the whole scene with a great deal of disbelief.

"Sooo...that's it?" said Ranma. "Since when did you start accepting apologies as simple as that?"

"Since someone actually had the courtesy to apologize to me at all. Maybe you should try it some time Ranma," Akane replied.

"What do I have to apologize for?"

"How about all the times _you've_ walked in on me?" Akane snapped.

"Most of those times weren't even my fault!" Ranma exclaimed. "Hell, the first time was your fault!"

The two continued to go back and forth while Gohan watched in awe, a bead of sweat rolling down his head.

"Uhhh...excuse me but..."

Videl grabbed Gohan by the arm and whispered, "Apparantly, this is normal for them."

"Really?"

"Yep."

Finally fed up with the arguing, Videl harshly clapped her hands together, getting their attention.

"Now that all that's out of the way, I think we can finally get everyone properly introduced." She motioned to Gohan. "Akane, Ranma, this is my boyfriend, Gohan. Gohan, this is my friend Akane and her fiancee Ranma."

"Fiancee!?" Gohan exclaimed.

"Don't look too deeply into it," Ranma replied. "We ain't gettin' married anytime soon."

"We're not getting married period," Akane backed up. "It's something our Dads set up."

"Oh...I see," Gohan stated.

"Well...now that everyone's been acquainted, any questions?" Videl interjected in an attempt to alleviate the awkward.

"I have one," said Akane. "It's not really a question, but when Gohan came in your room before, he said he was looking for you, and now that I think about it, he sounded like it was pretty urgent," she recalled.

"Hey, yeah," added Ranma. "That reminds me, when we were moppin' up the dojo, he said he knew something about the dude who wrecked your old man's dojo Videl."

Videl's eyes lit up and she frantically turned to Gohan. "Really!?"

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot!" Gohan exclaimed. "See, I went to the dojo after school like you said, but the police were there and they filled me in. Before I left though, the Captain asked me to pass some new info they gathered onto you."

In a greatly excited fashion, Videl instantly got close up into Gohan's personal space and said, "Well, what'd he tell you!?"

Gohan briefly froze for a moment and blushed at their close proximity.

Before he could calm down enough to speak, however, they were interrupted by the sound of loud barking...again.

"Wait, Videl, is that Bee?" Gohan asked.

"Oh, what's he barking at now?" said Videl.

"I dunno, but it sounds like it's coming from the backyard," Gohan noted.

"Then let's get going!" exclaimed Ranma.

[A short moment later]

The quartet of friends rushed to the back to find Bee barking in the distance.

"Bee, calm down!" Videl ordered.

"What's gotten him so excited?" Gohan asked.

As Bee growled, everyone turned their attention to the canine's gaze and saw a distinctly male figure approaching them.

"Wait, isn't that...?" Ranma thought out loud.

"Ryoga?" Akane exclaimed.

Sure enough, Ranma's eternal rival stood before the group, wielding his signature umbrella.

'Huh, I was wonderin' where he disappeared to,' Ranma thought. 'But how'd he get human again?'

"Who...is that?" Videl asked.

"Ryoga," Ranma answered. "He's kind of my archrival, and he has a knack for showing up where he's not wanted."

"Well what's he doing here?" Videl asked.

"If he's not lookin' for a round with me, we'll find out soon enough," Ranma replied.

Ryoga stepped forward and stopped a couple of yards away from the others.

"You..." Ryoga growled out.

Ranma stepped forward cracking his knuckles.

"So, you do wanna go a round after all, eh Ryoga?"

"Piss off Ranma! I'm talking to HIM!" Ryoga pointed his umbrella at Gohan.

"Me?!" Gohan asked surprised.

"Gohan? What does he want with Gohan?" Videl asked.

"I'm going to make you PAAAAAAY!!!!!"

With a forceful yell, Ryoga lifted is weighted umbrella, dashed past Ranma and thrust his weapon at Gohan, who unfortunately was right behind the girls.

As the girls dashed to the side to avoid Ryoga's charge, Ryoga let out a surprised gasp as he realized that Gohan had caught his umbrella with one hand.

Ryoga wasn't the only one who was surprised as Ranma and Akane both looked at the scene with shocked eyes. They knew how heavy Ryoga's umbrella was and the fact that Gohan stopped it with only one hand was astounding.

"What's going on here?" Akane asked. "Why's Ryoga attacking Gohan?"

"I dunno, but whatever the reason, I think we're in for a show."

**_(To Be Continued)  
[I'll be the Roooundabout...]_ **

**_(A/N: Geeze...this chapter was a pain in the ass to write...and I can't really explain why. I had plenty of good ideas going into this chapter but then I just got stuck like, five different times. Either way, I'm just glad I got this one outta the way. Right now I'm just hoping Akane being quick to accept Gohan's apology feels natural. While it doesn't always happen, I can think of one instance where Akane got walked in on, and though she still hit the guy who did it, she let it go quickly after, although that may have been a special case [In case you're wondering, it was Shinnosuke], although given how well mannered Gohan is, especially compared to boys in Ranma 1/2, she'd probably accept it anyway. So, now that this mess is over with, a new one approaches as Ryoga finally makes himself known to the others and he has his eyes set on Gohan for 'unknown' reasons...oh who am I kidding, everyone knows why. Prepare yourselves as next time, it's Ryoga vs. Gohan and maybe more...emphasis on maybe)_ **

 

 

 

 

 

 


	10. Mystery Revealed; Prepare for Battle

** My Life's Stranger Than Yours **

_ Mystery Solved; Prepare for Battle _

"You will PAAAAAAAY!"

Ryoga dashed forward and thrust his umbrella at Gohan who was standing right behind Videl and Akane.

The two girls dashed aside as Ryoga's attack made contact, but to his, Ranma, and Akane's surprise, Gohan had caught the umbrella with a single hand.

A dumbfounded Ryoga feverishly tried to pull his weapon out of Gohan's grip but to no avail.

"Whoa, that was close," sighed a relieved Gohan. "Are you girls okay?"

"Fine," Videl answered dusting herself off.

"I...I'm fine too," replied a stunned Akane.

"Hey! Don't ignore me!" boomed Ryoga, still pulling on the umbrella.

"Oh, sorry," Gohan replied.

As Gohan released his grip on the umbrella, Ryoga pulled with all his might and wound up flinging himself backwards and onto the ground. As Ryoga shook off the shock, he was approached by Gohan who extended his hand.

"Are you alright there?" Gohan asked.

Ryoga responded by swatting Gohan's hand away and backflipping back onto his feet into a defensive stance with his umbrella.

"Hmph, so you're a good sport at least," Ryoga conceded. "But don't think that means I'll forgive you for your crime!"

Gohan and the others raised their eyebrows in confusion.

"Crime? What crime?" asked Gohan.

"Enough talk!" snapped Ryoga.

The enraged Lost Boy swung his umbrella at Gohan who once again doged the blow with ease. Ryoga continued to strike with his unorthodox weapon until Gohan managed to catch it a second time.

"An opening!"

Quickly releasing his grip on the umbrella, Ryoga threw a punch at Gohan's stomach. To his surprise, Gohan caught his fist and held Ryoga still.

"Look," Gohan began. "I don't know who you are, or why you're so angry at me, but please, let's stop this pointless battle," he pleaded.

"Pointless battle!?" Ryoga snarled. "Believe me, this fight has PLENTY point to it!"

Raising his free hand, Ryoga threw a punch at Gohan's face that the young saiyan once again dodged. Retreating from his futile assault, Ryoga stood fast as Gohan tossed his umbrella back at him, which he easily caught.

"Well...if you don't mind...could you tell me what the point is?" asked a confused Gohan.

"Here's the point," Ryoga began. "I can't allow lecherous scum like you who peeps on innocent girls to live!"

Gohan's face instantly lit up with embarrassment, as did Akane and Videl's.

"That was an accident!" Gohan quickly defended.

"Ryoga, wait! You don't have to do this! I can explain everything!" Akane quickly tried to console him.

"You don't have to explain anything Akane," Ryoga replied. "Just stand back and watch me bring this bastard to his knees!"

Ryoga launched his next attack at the furiously blushing Gohan. Before either of them could make the next move, Videl intervened.

"Hey wait a second, how did you know about what happened with Gohan and Akane!?" she demanded.

Ryoga instantly ceased his attack, frozen in his striking pose.

"Come to think of it, Videl's right," Akane added.

"Yeah, Ryoga, how DID ya know?" Ranma egged him on.

"W-well...I..." Ryoga stammered.

In reality, he'd been there from the start in his cursed form. It was pure coincidence that getting thrown off the balcony would land him into a body of hot (enough) water to change him back to normal, but with Akane there, he couldn't let them know that.

"Believe it or not, it was PUUUURE coincidence!" Ryoga exclaimed pulling a microphone out of nowhere.

"I was just strolling through the city, having lost my way, when out of nowhere, I happened to hear a familiar voice screaming!" Ryoga explained.

"I knew instantly it was Akane, and being the chivalrous martial artist I am, I rushed towards where the sound was coming from to help...and I'd have shown up sooner if not for my cursed trouble with directions!!" Ryoga dramatically fell to the floor.

'Chivalrous?' thought a sarcastic Ranma. 'Keh, hypocritical much?' he mentally deadpanned.

Videl narrowed her eyes at the hysterically sobbing Ryoga, not buying any of his story. She was about to comment on it, until Akane beat her to it.

"Oh Ryoga, I'm glad you were just trying to help, but seriously, everything's alright now," she assured him.

"Wait, you actually believe him?" asked a skeptical Videl.

"You don't know Ryoga like we do," Akane replied. "Unlike some others," Akane sharply glanced at Ranma, "Ryoga's actually a pretty nice guy. He just has a bad habit of being in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"That's the understatement of the decade," Ranma added. "Moron would get lost in a one story building that only takes up like, a few yards."

"Who you callin' moron!" Ryoga boomed.

Before Ryoga could make a move towards Ranma, he was stopped by Gohan placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Whoa, take it easy now," Gohan said. "We just ended one situation, so let's not start another one."

"Hands off pal!" Ryoga exclaimed, darting away from Gohan.

"Ryoga, stop!" Akane pleaded. "I know you got lost when all that happened, but seriously, everything's been resolved now, you don't have to fight Gohan for my sake."

"Gohan? Who said anything about rice?" Ryoga asked.

"Is...is everyone going to make that joke the first time they meet me now?" Gohan asked.

"Well, I didn't," Videl chimed in.

"You?" Ryoga said turning back to Gohan.

"Yeah, my name's Gohan," he finally introduced himself. "I know you were just trying to defend Akane's honor, but I assure you, that whole thing that happened was an accident. I'd never do anything to disrespect anyone like that, especially a girl."

Ryoga narrowed his eyes. "Why should I believe you?"

"Well for starters, he has a girlfriend," Ranma began.

"And he knows that if he intentionally did something like this again, she'd kick his ass!" Videl concluded, causing Gohan to let out a sheepish chuckle.

"Wait, you two are...together?" Ryoga pointed to Gohan and Videl.

"Is that a problem?" sneered Videl.

"N-no, I just...."

"That shouldn't be surprising for you Ryoga, I mean, don't you have a girlfriend yourself?" reminded Akane.

Ryoga briefly paused then let out a panicked yell.

"Gaaaaah! I completely forgot! I'm supposed to be meeting with Akari!"

Ryoga began to make his way out of the yard, but paused.

"You!" Ryoga pointed to Gohan.

"Me?"

"You're lucky I've got someplace to be, so I'll let you go for now, but I have full intention to finish this fight!" Ryoga proclaimed. "I'll be back within a week's time, so you'd better prepare yourself!"

Having said his piece, Ryoga quickly darted away from the Satan Manor, in a trail of smoke.

"Hey! Who said my house could be your battlefield!?" Videl shouted at the vanishing Ryoga.

Gohan just stared in disbelief at Ryoga's retreating form, still completely lost to the current situation.

"Uhhm...what just happened?" Gohan asked.

"I...think Ryoga challenged you to a match," Akane answered.

"Heh, so first you make a move on my fiancee, and now you're tryin' to steal my rival? Unbelievable," said Ranma.

"I didn't do either of those things!" Gohan protested.

"Dude, chill. I was joking."

As Videl giggled at the exchange, Akane went over to examine something on the ground that wasn't there before.

"Hey what's this?"

"What's what?" asked Videl.

All eyes were on Akane as she picked up a folded piece of paper and opened it up.

"It's a map," she revealed.

"Ryoga must've dropped it when he bailed," Ranma guessed.

The group examined the map for a few seconds before Videl asked, "What the hell kind of map is this?"

The map they were viewing had no synergy whatsoever and was overall, just nearly impossible to make out aside from some...fairly decently done drawings.

"Well like we said, Ryoga gets lost pretty damn easily, so I'm guessing it's one he made himself," answered Ranma.

The group continued to examine the map until a specific drawing caught Videl's eye.

"Hey look at that one!" Videl pointed to an area at the side of the map. "That looks like a picture of my father!"

Ranma grabbed the map out of Akane's hands, despite her protests and turned it aside.

"You sure?"

"Yes! It's not a very good drawing, but I think I know what my own Dad looks like, snapped Videl."

Ranma let out a sigh. "I knew it."

"Knew what?" asked Videl.

"Ranma...you're not thinking what I think you're thinking are you?" asked Akane.

"If you think I'm thinking Ryoga's the guy who trashed the old man's dojo, then yes, I am," answered Ranma.

"What!?" exclaimed Videl.

"Oh come on Ranma, what makes you think Ryoga did it?" Akane asked.

"Well the old guy has his face on the place right, so Ryoga drawing the picture here might mean he's been there before," Ranma guessed.

"Not exactly," interjected Videl. "There's a sign with Dad's face at the city limits too, so it might just mean he found his way to Satan City, not necessarily the dojo."

"Yeah," added Akane. "And there's still no proof he was even at the dojo in the first place."

"Uhh...actually..." The previously silent Gohan chimed in.

"Remember what the police told me they found out about their prime suspect?" he began. "Though it almost slipped my mind with everything happening so fast, I just remembered what they said."

'Don't tell me...' Ranma and Akane simultaneously thought.

"According to witnesses, the suspect was a fairly bulky young man with black hair, wearing a yellow shirt and bandana with black pants, carrying a large sack," Gohan revealed.

At Gohan's revealation, Videl's eyes sharply narrowed and she clenched her fist tight, enraged.

"While he didn't have a sack with him, that does sound like it could've been Ryoga."

"Gohan, you just _confirmed_ it was Ryoga!" Ranma exclaimed. "I knew it!"

Akane let out a defeated sigh. Though she didn't want to believe it, she couldn't argue that Ryoga was looking more and more likely to be their culprit.

"Why that...!" Videl growled. "I don't believe this! Why would he do that? How could he do that?"

"Like we said, he probably got lost again and wound up at the dojo by complete accident," Ranma replied. "As for how, he knows a technique that can blow through rock so he probably dug his way in...or out...either way, he's the only guy I could think of that could make a crater like that."

"I don't care what he knows!" Videl proclaimed. "I'll make him pay for this!"

Gohan placed a calming hand on his girlfriend's shoulder. "Videl, you need to calm down. I know how you feel about your father's dojo, but you probably shouldn't go rushing headfirst into battles like this."

Videl sighed. "I know you're right Gohan, and I'm sorry, but I can't just let him get away with this!"

Videl cracked her knuckles, her body shaking with anticipation. "He said he's coming back here in a week to fight you right? In that case, I'll be the one to fight him instead!"

"Videl, are you sure that's a good idea?" Gohan asked.

"Don't waste your time."

All eyes turned to Ranma who smugly had his arms crossed behind his head.

"What do you mean by that, Ranma!?" Videl snapped.

"I've seen you fight and while you're pretty good, Ryoga's in a whole other league," Ranma answered. "I should know, he's _my_ rival."

"So what, you're saying I can't win?" Videl asked, an eyebrow narrowed.

"I'm saying that you got a long way to go before you can go against Ryoga."

"Why you...!"

Before Videl could retaliate, Ranma was pounded into the ground by Akane. "Just cause you have a point doesn't mean you have to be a jerk about it!" she glared.

"What do you mean 'he's got a point'?" Videl said.

"Exactly what it sounds like. Despite Ranma's tone, he's right, Ryoga's REALLY strong _and_ tough to boot. Whenever he and Ranma fight each other, things usually tend to escalate to some pretty crazy degrees."

"Take the crater in the dojo for example," chimed in a recovered Ranma. "If he can do that just from a casual stroll through nowhere, think what happens when he fights for real."

"Videl...?"

Gohan turned to see Videl with her head hanging low, though instead of any signs of negativity, her body was brimming with determination.

"I appreciate your concern guys, but don't worry, I can do this!" she proclaimed holding her head high.

"Videl are you sure about this?" Gohan asked.

"You bet Gohan, after all, I've got my family's honor to defend!"

"Although, it sounds like I'll REALLY have to prepare for this fight!" Videl added.

"That shouldn't be a problem, after all, you got two weeks," said Ranma.

"Two weeks? Didn't he say just one?" asked Gohan.

"Yeah, but given how horribly lost he gets, he won't find his way back to this city for at least a few days afterwards, another week tops."

"Sorry, but I don't think anyone could be that bad with directions," said Videl.

"Heh, get to know Ryoga a little better, he'll surprise ya," Ranma replied.

"Still, do you think two weeks will be enough time for her to prepare for someone like Ryoga?" Akane asked. "After all, even you still have trouble fighting him Ranma."

"Don't worry guys, Gohan will help me train. Won't you Gohan?" Videl beamed.

"I will?"

Videl softly narrowed her eyes.

"I mean...of course I...will," Gohan shakily chuckled.

"Great! After all, it's been a while since we've trained together seriously, haven't we?" she winked.

"Yeah, I guess."

"You think your boyfriend can help you stand up against Ryoga?" asked a skeptical Ranma. "He told me he wasn't _that_ much of a martial artist."

"Though now that I think about it, didn't he defend against you AND Ryoga attacking him?" Akane said to Ranma.

Videl giggled. "He may not look it, but Gohan's actually a lot stronger than he'd lead you to believe," she praised. "Heck, he's the one who taught me how to fly." Videl added.

"Wait, what!?" Ranma and Akane yelped in surprise.

"Videl!" Gohan cried.

"What? It's not like it's a secret...anymore at least."

" _You_ showed her that floating move?" Ranma asked.

Gohan slowly nodded his confirmation.

Ranma furrowed his brow in contemplation. After a brief moment of thought, he made a proclamation.

"Good news guys, I'm gonna help you two train!"

"Huh?"

"Nobody knows how to fight Ryoga like me so it makes sense that I should be there to help Videl fight him."

"Ranma, drop the charade," interjected an irritated Akane. "You don't want to help Videl train, you just want to be there to learn...whatever Gohan's going to show her!" she said pointing an accusing finger.

"Well, if Ranma wants to join us, I don't mind," Gohan replied.

"Huh?"

"Yeah, it's no problem at all," said Gohan. "And like he said, if he knows how to fight Ryoga best, then maybe it would help if he joined us."

"But...but...!" Akane stammered.

She's seen Ranma do some underhanded things to get what he wanted, but the fact that he was trying it here and the person he was trying to trick was just letting him get exactly what he wanted caught her completely off guard.

"You know Akane, if you want to join us, you can too," Videl added.

"Wha-wait, really?"

"The more the merrier, right?" joked Gohan.

"Yeah. Besides, I'll need a sparring partner won't I?" Videl said.

"S-sure...I'll be glad to help however I can!" Akane exclaimed.

"Well then I guess that's settled," Videl said crossing her arms. "We'll meet at Gohan's house in a couple of days, cause I think we all could use a break after today."

"I'll say," Gohan agreed.

"Likewise."

"Ditto."

"If you want, I can give you two a ride home at least," Videl offered.

"That'd be great!" Akane beamed.

"A ride in what?" asked Ranma.

A short while later, Videl's familiar yellow aircraft could be seen blasting through the skies of Satan City, once again destined for the Tendo Dojo.

[Elsewhere]

Unbeknownst to the quartet of fighters, a certain pale boy was cackling to himself, having accomplished his mission.

'Kuno-Senpai's gonna love this. Once I tell him where the new girl lives and he decides to take her instead, I'll have Akane all to myself!'

"Hehehehehehehe!"

**_(To Be Continued)_ **

**_(A/N: This...did not turn out how I expected it to. I went into this thinking I was gonna do a fight between Gohan and Ryoga and came out setting up for a fight between_ ** **Videl _and Ryoga. How the hell did I even do that!? Either way, the identity of the dojo destroyer's finally been revealed, as if everybody didn't already know who it was, and Videl has a bone to pick with him, but not to worry, her mysteriously powerful boyfriend is gonna do whatever it takes to make sure she comes out of this fight with as little damage as possible. What's more, Ranma and Akane are tagging along for the ride, and with the training taking place at Gohan's house, Ranma and Akane may get more than they bargained for. And no, I didn't forget about Kuno wanting to 'court' Videl, but that's for another time. Even I have no idea what's gonna happen next chapter, so if you want to find out with me, stay tuned!)_**

  1. **_Is it just me, or do these last couple of chapters feel kind of...weak?_**



 


	11. Discussions and Anticipation; The Tale of Son Gohan

** My Life's Stranger Than Yours **

_ Discussions and Anticipation; The Tale of Son Gohan _

Through the skies of Satan City, four friends could be seen flying in a well known yellow aircraft.

"Sweet ride," complimented Ranma.

"Thanks," replied Videl. "I almost wish I used this thing more often though?"

"Well, why don't you?" asked Ranma.

"Cause a plane seems kind of superfluous when you can fly yourself," Videl grinned.

"Heh, if I knew what 'superfloss', meant, I'd probably agree with you," Ranma joked.

"It basically means 'pointless'," Gohan answered. "But on to more important things, why are we meeting at MY place?" Gohan asked Videl.

"We're going to train seriously Gohan, and to do that, there's no better place than the woods by your house," replied Videl. "Fresh air, plenty of space to work, it's perfect."

Ranma and Akane both paused at Videl's last statement. "Wait a second; Woods?" They said in unison.

"Uh Gohan...where exactly do you live?" asked Akane.

"Mt. Paouzu, in the 439 Area," Gohan replied.

"Is...that far?" asked Ranma.

"Far!? That's like, hundreds of miles from this city!" exclaimed Akane. "How the heck do you manage to get to school on time!?"

"Oh I just...fly," Gohan replied.

"By yourself?" Ranma asked raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah..."

"Dude, how fast can you go? You must be pretty quick if you can fly all the way from the mountains to the city and back again so easily."

Gohan scratched his head in thought. "I don't know exactly. I never measured myself before."

Ranma sat back in his seat and crossed his arms. 'Man, the more I hear about this dude, the more I want him to show what he's really made of.'

"Hmmmm...." Videl paused. "I wanted to go straight to Gohan's house to get started training ASAP, but if you want, I can pick you guys up first thing after school on meeting day."

Ranma and Akane shot each other a glance then nodded at each other.

"Nah, I think we'll get up there the old fashioned way," Ranma declined. "If anything, it'll probably be a pretty good warm up."

"Alright then, it's settled."

As the conversation ended, Videl's jet was just coming across the Tendo Dojo.

"Huh, perfect timing," noted Videl.

Videl took the aircraft down to ground level and hovered right by the dojo's entrance. A few seconds later, Ranma and Akane both hopped out.

"Thanks for the ride...again!" called Akane.

"No problem! We'll see you in a couple of days!" replied Videl.

Pulling the throttle, Videl blasted off full speed back to Satan City. As Akane waved them off, Ranma made his way back into the dojo, today's events still on his mind. As he walked through the door, he instantly came face to face with his mother.

"Oh Ranma, you're back!" Nodoka greeted.

"Hey Mom," Ranma replied.

"Where's Akane?"

"Right here Aunt Nodoka!" said Akane darting inside.

The trio made their way to the living room where everyone else had already assembled Kasumi just walked in from the kitchen, Nabiki was on the couch and Soun and Genma (who was in Panda form for some reason) playing their usual board game.

"Well, look who's back," said Nabiki.

"Welcome back you two," greeted Soun.

"Soo, how'd your match go?" asked Kasumi.

"Well, my rematch with Videl went off without much of a hitch," Akane began. "It's everything afterwards where things got...well..."

"Pretty damn interesting if you ask me," Ranma interjected.

"Interesting how?" Nabiki raised an eyebrow.

"Well for starters, we got to meet Videl's boyfriend." Akane replied.

"She has a boyfriend?!" exclaimed the remaining Tendo sisters.

"Ohh, that _is_ interesting," giggled Nodoka.

"'Interesting's' an understatement. This is even juicier than a well cooked steak!" beamed Nabiki.

"So, tell us about him a little," pleaded Kasumi.

Briefly shrinking at all the eyes that were on her at the moment, Akane let out a sheepish giggle before she responded.

"Well...we got off to...something of a rough start, to put it bluntly," Akane began.

"Rough start how?" asked Kasumi

"Remember when I first revealed my curse?" Ranma interjected.

"Oh!" Kasumi squeaked knowingly.

"Well, that didn't take long did it?" joked Nabiki. "So, how hard did you hit him?"

"Believe it or not, I never actually did...though not from lack of trying mind you," Akane replied.

"Really? How'd that happen?"

"Well, aside from Videl breaking it up, he actually apologized. Despite the rocky start,  he's actually a _really_ nice guy, and apparently, he's a martial artist too."

"Is that so?" Soun chimed in, his voice filled with interest.

"Guess it makes sense a fighter chick like Videl would hook up with another fighter...kind of like you Akane," teased Nabiki.

"Ignoring that," Akane deadpanned.

"Well, don't keep us in the dark, what's he like? What's his name?" asked Nodoka.

"Well, his name's Gohan, but we sadly didn't have a chance to really get acquainted."

As soon as the words left Akane's mouth, Soun and Genma both froze and dropped their game pieces onto the table with an audible _'CLACK!'_

"Man, first Nabiki mentions steak, and now rice...when's dinner gonna be ready?" groaned Ranma.

"Soon Ranma, but don't whine. It's unmanly," scolded Nodoka.

Sighing, Ranma headed for the dojo while the girls headed into the kitchen to continue their conversation, leaving Soun and Genma alone in the living room.

"Saotome...you heard what Akane said right?" Soun whispered.

"Yes, but I wouldn't get my hopes up if I were you, it could just be a coincidence," Genma replied.

"True, but if that boy has the same name as HIM, then this may be the chance we've been looking for!" Soun countered.

Genma crossed his arms. "Do you really think that boy would know the whereabouts of HIM?"

"I understand your skepticism Saotome, but Akane did say he was a martial artist, so there may be a chance," said Soun stroking his chin. "And any chance we have must be taken!"

"You're right Tendo!" Genma agreed.

The two fiercely shook hands with each other, their plan about to be set into motion. First things first, they needed to talk to Ranma.

[Elsewhere]

Long since abandoning the jet, Gohan and Videl were flying themselves back to Mt Paouzu.

"Uh Gohan, not that I don't enjoy being there, but why am I going to your place now? We're not training with Ranm and Akane for another couple of days," Videl stated.

"Yeah, but I have to tell mom about this, and you know how she feels about me training. Heck, she barely lets me go out as Saiyaman," Gohan replied.

"True, but that doesn't explain why I'm here."

"Cause I think it'll be easier to convince her if she knows you're going to be involved, and I just feel a bit more at ease with you supporting me."

Videl's expression flattened. "You're really terrified of your mom, aren't you?"

"Videl, EVERYONE in our group's terrified of Mom...except maybe 18 and Vegeta," Gohan chuckled.

"Well at least I'll be staying for dinner. It's been a while since I last had Chi-Chi's cooking!" Videl beamed.

Picking up speed, Videl flew ahead with Gohan in hot pursuit.

[A short moment later]

Gohan and Videl finally came across Gohan's house and subsequently landed. Entering, Gohan announced their arrival.

"I'm home!"

The duo stepped into the kitchen to find Chi-Chi, hard at work preparing dinner.

"Gohan, you're back!" she greeted. "Oh! And Videl's here too!"

"Hey Chi-Chi," Videl bowed.

"Where are Dad and Goten?" asked Gohan.

"Oh they went out fishing. They should actually be back pretty soon," Chi-Chi answered.

The three paused at the sound of the front door opening. "Speak of the devil."

"We're home!" called Goku.

Gohan and Videl went back to greet them.

"Hey Dad!"

"Hey, Gohan's back!"

Darting into Videl's arms, Goten exclaimed. "And Sis is here too!"

"Nice to see you too Goten." Videl giggled.

"So, what brings you here this time Videl?" asked Goku. "You two just studying together or something, or are you having Gohan train you again?"

"Goku, please," Chi-Chi called from the kitchen. "Don't try to turn Videl's friendly visit into a training session."

"Well..." Videl started. "I actually do need Gohan to help me train again. I've got a pretty intense battle coming up."

"Intense battle?" asked an intrigued Goku. "With who?"

"Some jackass who trashed my father's dojo!" Videl snapped.

"That's terrible," commented Chi-Chi. "I'm not a fan of your father, but even he doesn't deserve to have his property destroyed by some...degenerate."

"What's a degenerate?" asked Goten.

His question was ignored as Goku followed up with his own question. "So this guy you have to fight, is he strong?"

"Apparently...at least according to a couple of friends of mine." she replied.

"Which reminds me," Gohan interjected, turning to Chi-Chi. "Those friends of ours want to help Videl prepare, so we were kind of wondering if it'd be okay if they came over to our place," he pleaded.

Chi-Chi softly narrowed her eyes, and sighed. "Fine, but don't let this impending match get in the way of your school work...both of you!"

"Yes ma'am!" Gohan and Videl responded.

'Wait a minute why did I respond?' Videl thought.

Her thoughts were interrupted by another question from Goku. "So how strong is this guy?"

Videl shrugged. "Don't know for sure, but Gohan might. After all, he did attack him."

"Wait...who attacked who?" asked Goku.

"That guy attacked me...actually, now that I remember, I'm the one he actually wanted to fight," Gohan recalled.

"Really? Well why didn't you take it Son, and why'd he wanna fight you in the first place?"

Gohan's face lit up a bright shade of red as he recalled walking in on Akane, and Ryoga's declaration to avenge her.

"I'd uhhh...rather not say why..." Gohan stammered. "But to answer your other question...he actually does seem fairly stronger than a normal human."

"Really?"

"Yeah. He attacked me with a weighted umbrella..."

"An umbrella?" inquired Goten.

"Just roll with it....Anyway, the weight of his weapon was actually pretty intense. There's no way a regular person would be able to weild something that heavy."

"Oh, so it was like the sword from the Supreme Kai's planet?"

"No, it wasn't THAT heavy. It was no problem for me, but for a regular person, it may as well have been." Gohan chuckled.

Goku put a hand to his chin in contemplation. "So you think this guy Videl's fighting may have some kind of hidden power?"

Gohan shrugged. "I can't say for sure, but our friends seemed pretty worried for one reason or another."

"And considering they know what I can do, that is admittedly cause for caution," Videl added crossing her arms.

"Hehe, well, this _does_ sound like a pretty intense battle," Goku grinned. "I'll leave you kids to train your own way, but if you need any help, don't hesitate to ask."

"Thanks Goku," Videl said with a smile.

"Hey can I help Videl train too!?" Goten exclaimed.

"Why don't we talk about this after dinner," Gohan grinned. "Besides, we won't be starting for another day or two."

"Okay!"

As Goten dashed into the kitchen, followed closely by the others, the family of four and their special guest went on to enjoy thier evening, thoughts of the upcoming days running through the younger couple's heads.

[At the Tendo Dojo]

Ranma was in the center of the dojo doing a hand stand. A lot had happened today and he really needed to clear his mind, at least until dinner was ready. As he stood still on his hands, his concentration was broken by the sound of the dojo door slamming open.

"Ranma my boy, we need to talk!" Genma exclaimed, Soun by his side.

"What's wrong? Is Mom kickin' ya out or something?" Ranma joked.

Genma replied by launching a sweep kick at Ranma's wrist which caused him to fall over, but he somersaulted back onto his feet.

"This is no time for jokes boy!" Genma snapped. "This could be the answer to one of our biggest problems ever!"

Ranma placed his hands on his hips and shot the two a suspicious eyebrow. "What are ya talkin' about now?"

"The end of the Evil Master, son!" Soun replied.

Ranma's instantly paid them his full attention. "Are you serious!?"

"Yes, but first, we need to ask you a couple of questions," Genma replied.

"About what?"

"That boy you met today, Gohan."

"What about him?"

"He wouldn't happen to be Son Gohan, would he?" asked Soun.

"I dunno, he didn't say his full name," Ranma replied. "What does he have to do with all this?"

"We don't expect you to know this, but Son Gohan is the name of once well known and powerful martial artist," Genma began.

"Really?" said an intrigued Ranma.

Genma nodded. "It's been said that Son Gohan was one of two students to have trained under the Legendary Turtle Hermit."

"Turtle Hermit?"

"Yes, the master and practioner of the Turtle Style, an ancient and devastatingly strong battle art," added Soun.

"So...lemme get this straight, you think that Akane's friend's boyfriend is some old Martial Arts Hotshot?" Ranma asked sarcastically.

"Don't be a moron Ranma!" snapped Genma. "Of course that boy himself isn't him, however, the fact that they have the same name, and that he's a martial artist is...telling at the very least."

"I get it now. You think Gohan...well our Gohan has a connection with the old man, and might actually know something about this Turtle Guy?" Ranma guessed.

"Precisely," answered Soun.

"And you want me to ask Gohan if or what he _does_ know?"

"Correct," replied Genma.

"And if he does know and tells me where to find him, you want the old Turtle Man to train me to beat the Old Freak, right!?"

_BZZZZZT!_

"Wrong sir, but thank you for playing!" Genma exclaimed into a microphone.

"Then what am I even looking for him for!!??" Ranma yelled.

"Obviously, it's so HE can defeat the evil master for us," said Soun.

Ranma hit the floor in disbelief. "I don't know why I'm even surprised," he groaned.

"Don't take it the wrong way Ranma. The Turtle Hermit's said to not be accepting students anymore, so you probably couldn't convince him to train you anyway," Soun reassured him.

Ranma crossed his arms and sighed dejectedly. "Fine, whatever. Still, even if Gohan knows about the Turtle Guy and I do find him, how do we know he can even beat the old freak?"

Soun and Genma sat in meditative postures as they both tried to come up with an acceptable response to Ranma's question.

"You have no idea if he can do it or not, do you?" Ranma deadpanned.

"Well, he is called 'The Legendary Hermit' for a reason."

"Gaaaaaah!"

"Still Ranma, you have to admit, that even the slightest of chances to be rid of the Evil Master is a chance worth taking, is it not?" Soun asked.

"Tsk. Yeah, I guess."

"Then it's settled boy!" Genma exclaimed. "Your trip with Akane now serves a second purpose!"

Ranma gave a halfhearted nod as he accepted his...'mission'. He was already looking forward to meeting with Gohan and Videl again, but if what his father and Mr. Tendo said was true, then maybe their next meeting would be even more exciting than he thought. Pushing the thoughts aside for now, the three men rushed out of the dojo at the sound of Nodoka announcing that dinner was ready.

**_(A/N: Not much to say here either except that I sort of hoped to get this chapter out before March ended. On a more positive note, at least I didn't release it on April Fool's Day (weird how both April Fools and Easter fell on the same day this year). So yeah, nothing major happens this chapter, but I hope everyone enjoys the setup. So yeah, Soun and Genma have heard of Grandpa Gohan and the Turtle School, but only through word of mouth. Little do they know that the legends they heard have more truth to them than they realize. Until next time!)_ **


	12. Unforseen Adventure; Perilous Mt. Paozu

** My Life's Stranger Than Yours **

_ Unforseen Adventure; Perilous Mt. Paouzu _

_Two days passed in the blink of an eye. All four of young fighters went about their days mostly uneventful. At least, as uneventful as it is around Ranma and friends. Finally, the day meeting day arrived._

[The Skies Above Mount Paouzu]

"Come on Gohan, let's hurry!"

School had long since let out and Videl wasted no time in jetting off. In fact, flying at her own top speed, she was making record time.

Of course Gohan was right behind her, keeping pace. Sometimes he wondered just how he kept up with that girl's enthusiasm.

'Man, Videl is really fired up today,' Gohan thought. 'Hopefully Ranma and Akane can find their way to my house soon.'

[Meanwhile, in a forest area not far away]

Speaking of Ranma and Akane, the pair had gotten off the bus up the mountain and had to continue down the familiar dirt road on foot. They continued on the path for at least around 15 minutes before one of them started complaining.

Surprisingly, their ensuing fight ended before it began when Ranma pointed to a detour on the map they had. Though reluctant, Akane had agreed to take the detour road. The reason she was hesitant was because the detour led into the forest.

[Five minutes later into the forest]

"Man...how much further do we have to go?" asked Ranma.

"Don't complain Ranma, it was your idea to come this way," Akane reminded him.

Ranma crossed his arms. "Yeah, after you were complaining about how long it was taking back on the road," Ranma snapped back.

Akane narrowed her eyes but held her tongue. They continued on for another unspecified amount of time before Akane broke the silence.

"You know...this forest kind of reminds me of Ryugenzawa," she noted.

Ranma couldn't help but twitch at the mention of that name. He remembered the adventure they had there, but he also couldn't help but recall the ordeal between him, Akane, and that Shinnosuke guy.

"Wha-what makes you think of that place?" Ranma stuttered.

"I can't really explain it..." Akane replied. "This place just has the same feel to it, like there's more to this forest than meets the eye."

"What, you think a giant animal's gonna attack us or somethin'?" Ranma scoffed. "Please, the worst thing we'll probably come across here is a bear, and after all the times I knocked Pops' furry butt into the ground, I think we'll be fine."

Akane was conflicted at Ranma's last statement. On the one hand, she agreed with Ranma to some degree that there probably wasn't anything out there TOO big for either him or her to handle. On the other hand, she didn't want to test that theory out either.

Unfortunately, it looked like she'd get a chance when the leaves of nearby bushes started to rustle.

"Ranma..."

Ranma gave a confident breath and stepped forward in front of Akane, taking a defensive stance.

"Relax, whatever it is, I'll just blast it with my Takabisha and we'll be on our way," Ranma assured her.

Akane was less than assured when the rustling started to intensify. A moment later, the beast hiding in the plants revealed itself, and one of the two let out an ear piercing scream.

**"Ggggyyyaaaaaaaaagh!!!"**

[With Gohan and Videl]

'Huh?' As Gohan and Videl continued their flight to Gohan's house, Gohan turned back in the opposite direction.

"Gohan? What's wrong?" Videl asked.

"I...I thought I heard something," Gohan answered.

"I didn't hear anything."

"Hmmmm..." Gohan turned in the opposite direction, but ultimately, he decided to follow Videl's example and just continue forward.

[Ranma and Akane]

The duo could be seen sprinting for their lives as a pair of sabertooth tigers was right on their tails.

"'The worst is a bear', he says. 'I can handle it' he says!" Akane yelled sardonically.

Ranma was unable to even make a snappy comeback at Akane's remark as he was still screaming in terror.

"Caaaaaaats!"

Any other kind of wild animal probably wouldn't have been a big problem, but as luck would have it, the wild animals they DID happen to encounter, belonged in the family of Ranma's greatest fear. That fear only amplified as the tigers let out a pair of ferocious roars.

"Eyyyaagh!!!"

Ranma and Akane both poured all their strength into their legs as they both sprinted away from their feline pursuers. The chase continued on, but the tigers still remained hot on their heels.

'This is getting us nowhere!' Akane mentally screamed. 'Is there any place we can get away from these things?'

Akane surveyed the area and from the corner of her eye, she spotted what looked like a cave. 'Maybe...'

"Ranma! Over there!" Akane pointed.

Ranma turned his head aside and fortunately, spotted the cave. Relieved at finally finding a place to escape, Ranma jetted towards the cave at full speed, unintentionally leaving Akane behind in the dust.

"H-hey! Wait for me!!" Akane yelled.

Kicking her own speed up a notch, Akane managed to keep up with Ranma...only just barely. Unfortunately, as they were approaching the cave, Akane tripped and stumbled over a nearby tree root, hitting the ground hard and a couple of things falling out of her backpack. She was unable to get back up in time and run away, for the tigers nigh instantly caught up to her.

"Ranma...little help, please!" Akane called. Her plea fell on deaf ears as Ranma zipped into the cave, leaving her to the tigers' mercy.

'My hero, folks!' Akane sarcastically thought.

Akane steadily crawled backwards as one of the tigers advanced on her. The second tiger leapt over Akane and chased after Ranma into the cave. Unbeknownst to them, that was Akane's shining ray of hope.

'Ranma's totally useless once his fear of cats kicks in...and against these kinds of cats I can't even blame him too much, but hopefully, the one that followed him in the cave will be just enough for...'

Akane couldn't finish her thought as from the cave sprung an echoing, "Mrrrroooowwww!"

In the next instance, the saber tooth bounded back out of the cave and rejoined it's companion, as it was now being pursued by Ranma, crouched on all-fours. In the next instance, Ranma leapt in between Akane and the first tiger, swiping at it with a 'clawed' hand, and forcing it to back off.

'Yes! Ranma's cat-fist kicked in!' Akane inwardly cheered, rising to her feet. 'I don't know if this'll actually work, but it's our only option right now.'

Cat Ranma stood defensively in front of the hopeful Akane hissing and growling at the two wildcats. Not ready to give up just yet, both tigers let out a pair of loud roars, which Ranma countered with a nearly as ferocious growl.

The two cats and the cat boy continued to go back and forth at each other, neither one willing to give an inch. A few seconds later however, the tigers inexplicably froze up and seemed to be shaking. In an unexpected turn of events, both tigers let out fearful yelps and sprinted away.

Akane let out a relieved sigh, then a triumphant giggle. "Haha, I think you did it Ranma!"

The animal minded boy responded by leaping into Akane's arms and affectionately rubbing his face against hers.

"Nice kitty..." Akane gently said rubbing Ranma's head. After a brief moment of petting, Akane set Ranma down, but kept him from running away by grabbing a nearby branch and using it as a cat toy as she surveyed the surrounding area for her fallen goods.

'I know I had a bottle of water in my bag somewhere, I just need to find where it landed...'

Akane kept waving the branch as she scanned the ground behind her for her water bottle. Turning around, she spotted the bottle behind them and her face lit up.

"Aha! Got it!"

As Akane swiped up her bottle, she couldn't help but notice that the sky overhead had gotten darker. Not only that, but now Ranma was the one shaking in fear, just like the tigers. Akane looked up to see that the sky hadn't gotten darker, but the two of them were shrouded in a giant shadow, and that shadow belonged too...

**"GGGGGGRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRWWWW!!!"**

**"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"**

[Gohan and Videl]

_"Aaahhhhh!"_

Gohan turned back around again, this time he was positive he heard _something_ , and it didn't sound too pleasant. "Videl...tell me you heard THAT."

Videl followed his gaze. It was faint, but she'd heard the echoing sound fade out. "I did this time, and it sounded like a girl screaming."

As a bead of sweat rolled down Gohan's face, he turned back to Videl and said, "You don't think that was Ranma or Akane, do you?"

"It could be. Either way, I think we should check it out."

"Right," Gohan nodded. Quick, grab onto me and I'll get us there in no time."

Videl wanted to argue that she could fly herself just fine, but she knew Gohan could fly much faster than she could and decided to hold her tongue and comply. Once she was holding tightly onto Gohan, the half saiyan bathed them both in his energy and blasted off towards the direction of the scream.

[Ranma and Akane]

For the second time that day, the two martial artists were running for their lives, or rather, Akane was running for her life while carrying a fearful, still Cat Fist induced Ranma.  The tigers were bad enough, but now a bright orange dinosaur was chasing them...a freaking dinosaur! The only reason Akane could think of as to why it was chasing them was because that cave they hid in was it's home and dealing with the tigers must've disturbed it.

'I take back what I said before! The giant animals at Ryugenzawa were WAY better than this!' Akane thought.

Almost miraculously, Akane managed to keep one step ahead of the large reptile, but only barely. As she continued sprinting, the dinosaur reared it's head back and thrust it forward with a fierce chomp! At the last second, Akane threw herself forward, Ranma still in her arms and managed to avoid the dinosaur's attack.

Unfortunately, for the two, Akane had launched them at the top of a small hill and when she landed, they wound up rolling sporadically down the hill and into a nearby lake at the bottom, with the dinosaur still close behind them.

Ranma pulled her head above the surface and spat out a small stream of water. "What the heck happened?"

Her answer came in the form of a loud roar as she turned and spotted the dinosaur rushing at her.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!?" Ranma shrieked. Ranma started to swim to shore but paused when she heard erratic splashing behind her.

"Blbbaluub!"

"Akane!"

Ranma quickly swam over to her flailing friend and grasped her by the waist. She wouldn't have much time to make an escape attempt as the dinosaur finally caught up to them at the edge of the lake.

With Akane clutching onto her for dear life, Ranma floated them backwards as the dinosaur began to make slow strides to the two girls. Ranma started to weigh her options about what their next move should be. She could probably jump over the thing...if they weren't in water. She couldn't blast it with the 'Takabisha' either since she needed her hands to do that and they were currently keeping Akane from drowning.

As Ranma tried to come up with a new plan, something even more unexpected happened. The dinosaur let out a low growl and began to approach them, only it didn't seem like it was in an offensive stance. In fact, the large beast seemed to just fall over forward, into the water causing a big splash. Once the water settled, the dinosaur just lay still in the water, not moving an inch. Upon closer and cautious inpection, the dinosaur seemed to be unconscious.

Though confused about what just happened, but not wanting to miss the opportunity, Ranma, with Akane in hand swam to shore and got them both out of the water, panting heavily.

"Okay...you wanna tell me what's been going on?" Ranma snapped at Akane.

Before she could answer, a different female voice chimed in, "That's what we'd like to know."

Ranma and Akane both turned their attention upwards and saw Videl and Gohan descending down to them.

"Hey, it's you guys!" Ranma greeted.

"Are you guys okay?" Videl asked as she landed.

"Define, 'okay'," Ranma snarked.

"I'll take that as a 'kind of'," Videl replied.

"I don't know what happened here, but it looks like we got here just in time," Gohan stated as he touched ground.

"I'll say. I don't know how much more chasing I could deal with right now!" Akane exclaimed.

"Heh, no offense, but you two do look like you've been through alot," Gohan stated. "Come on, we'll head to my house and you two can dry off there."

Ranma let out a relieved sigh. "Please tell me we're gonna get there in Videl's plane."

Gohan and Videl both grinned at each other and said in unison, "Nope!"

"What!?"

"Calm down. We're still flying, just not in my jet," Videl clarified.

Ranma and Akane could only shoot each other confused glances.

[A few minutes later]

"Whoooaaaa!!"

"This is awesome!"

The four friends could be seen flying through the air, Ranma riding on Gohan's back, and Akane being carried by Videl. Ranma was actually enjoying herself, while Akane was a bit...less than thrilled.

"You doing okay there Akane?" Videl asked.

"I...I...guess." Akane stuttered.

"Relax, I'm not gonna drop you," Videl assured her.

"I know but...flying by yourself...like this...! This is actually seeming a lot less fun than I thought it'd be!"

"That's just because you're being carried," Videl replied. "Trust me, flying yourself is way more fun!"

"I'll take your word for it!" Akane exclaimed.

"Uhhm...if you don't mind my asking, what happened to you two back there?" Gohan interjected.

"We got chased by a dinosaur, genius, you know that," Ranma snapped.

"Yeah, but what I mean is why'd he start chasing you two in the first place?" Gohan asked. "I know the one that chased you guys in particular is a bit of a troublemaker, but the dinosaurs around these parts don't usually bother people, provided you stay away from their turf. You guys must've taken a wrong somewhere."

"Well..." Akane pondered. "We might've snuck into his cave when trying to run from a couple of tigers."

"Tigers?" Videl asked.

At both mentions of the word 'tiger', Ranma visibly shuddered. 'Now I remember. I must've gone Cat-Fist or something again cause I don't remember anything before we wound up in the water.'

"Okay, those guys just like to be jerks sometimes," Gohan added. "I still remember this one time a tiger stole my favorite hat when I was a kid and I chased him all around the forest trying to get it back."

Ranma and Akane both looked at Gohan increduously. "You chased a tiger...?" "When you were just a kid...?"

Gohan awkwardly chuckled and added, "Well...my hat had a family memento on it, that I had to get back."

The duo continued to eye Gohan suspiciously as their flight continued.

A short moment later, the group finally approached a peaceful looking house. Not far from it was what looked like crops.

"Ahh, finally we're home!" Gohan stated.

Gohan started descending, the girls right behind them. As they got closer to the ground, they could see a woman carrying a basket of clothes just outside the entrance.

"Mom!" Gohan called.

"Hey Chi-Chi!"

Chi-Chi was unable to immediately respond as she was still dealing with the clothes. Finally putting the laundry basket down, the always busy housewife turned to greet her son and his future wi-! I mean, girlfriend.

"Gohan, Videl glad to see...!"

Chi-Chi paused for when Gohan and Videl landed,  she also took notice of the two other girls accompanying them.

"Gohan, I remember you saying you were bringing friends over, but I don't recall you mentioning they were both girls," Chi-Chi said sternly raising a curious eyebrow.

"Uhhh...well...." Gohan stammered.

"Wait a sec, I'm..." Ranma began.

"Chi-Chi, these two are more friends of mine than they are Gohan," Videl quickly interjected, cutting Ranma off. "No offense, but I can't spend all my free time with Gohan? I need some female friends right?"

Chi-Chi's expression softened. "Hmmhm, you're right. I'm sorry," she replied rather bashfully.

 As Chi-Chi turned to them, Ranma and Akane both ahd the similar thought of, 'She seems pretty nice,' flash through their minds.

"Hello, my name's Akane Tendo," she introduced, with a bow.

"Ranma Saotome."

Chi-Chi paused for a moment and examined the two. 'She seems well mannered enough,' Chi-Chi thought glancing at Akane. 'But her on the other hand..." she turned her gaze to Ranma. "...Something seems...odd. Maybe it's because her name sounds rather masculine. Still, I shouldn't be rude."

"My name's Chi-Chi," she introduced herself. "Excuse me, but if you don't mind my asking, why are you two all wet?"

"We kinda got lost on the way here and may have taken a dip in a lake," Ranma replied.

"Oh that's terrible. Come inside and I'll see if I can find you two a change of clothes," Chi-Chi invited them.

"Oh, thank you!" Akane exclaimed.

As Chi-Chi led Ranma and Akane indoors, with Videl following after, Gohan remained outside alone for the moment, thinking, "That...went surprisingly well."

Relieved that the meeting between Ranma, Akane and his mother had gone off without so much as a hitch, Gohan followed the others inside, ready to get to work.

_**(Chapter End)** _

 

 


	13. Unexpected Battles. Ranma vs. Who? Videl vs. Who!?

** My Life's Stranger Than Yours **

_ Unexpected Battles: Ranma vs. Who? Videl vs. Who!? _

As the group all entered the mountain home, Chi-Chi led Ranma and Akane to the couch.

"Wait here you two and I'll grab you some towels, and a change of clothes," Chi-Chi said to the guests.

"Actually Ms.Chi-Chi, I have a change of clothes, so just a towel will be fine," Akane noted.

"Alright then, and just Chi-Chi is fine," she replied.

 "Well she does, but I don't," Ranma groaned. "Could you tell me where your bathroom is?" she asked.

"Oh of course, just follow me." Chi-Chi motioned with her hand and Ranma began following her through the house.

"Well, I think I'd better get ready too," Gohan said. Exiting the room, Gohan dashed upstairs and went to go change into his training gear, leaving Akane and Videl alone.

"So...Gohan's mom seems pretty nice," Akane stated.

"Oh she is...most of the time," Videl replied.

"What do you mean 'most of the time'?" Akane asked.

"It's nothing crazy, it's just that Chi-Chi can be pretty intense at times, especially when she's mad. Heck, even her husband and his friends get scared stiff," Videl giggled.

Akane raised an eyebrow. "How intense are we talking?"

"Well...funny story, but when Chi-Chi and I first met, we didn't exactly 'hit it off'," Videl began. "She seemed pretty quick to go from one extreme to another. One minute we're having a pretty ridiculous fight just growling at each other, and later that same day, she's basically trying to hook us up," Videl couldn't help but grin at the rather nostalgic memory.

"Hmmm...your parents trying to fix you up with someone...now where have I heard THAT before?" Akane smirked.

"Hey, go easy on Chi-Chi," Videl chuckled. "I don't know what the deal with your and Ranma's Dad is, but Chi-Chi was just trying to look out for her son, and I can respect that...now if only she'd stop asking 'When's the wedding?'."

"Welcome to my world."

The two girls could only let out a couple of strings of laughter before Chi-Chi returned with a towel in hand.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," Chi-Chi announced.

"It's no problem," Akane said hopping off the couch.

"Say, where did Gohan go?" Chi-Chi asked.

"He went upstairs to change," answered Videl.

"Don't worry, I'm here!"

The ladies turned to see Gohan dashing down the stairs in his purple gi. "Sorry to keep you girls waiting."

'Deja Vu,' thought Videl and Akane.

"So, where's Ranma?" Gohan asked.

"Hmmmm...I left a change of clothes for her. It shouldn't be taking her this long to get changed," Chi-Chi noted.

As Chi-Chi left to check on Ranma, Gohan turned to the girls. "Uhh...shouldn't we tell Mom about...you know?"

Videl shrugged. "She's gonna find out sooner or later, so why bother?"

"That...might not be the best idea," he noted.

[With Chi-Chi]

The matriarch quickly made her way back to the bathroom. To her surprise, she found the clothes she had laid out for Ranma were still outside the door. 'That's strange. I could've sworn I let her know these were out here, so why hasn't she changed into them yet?'

Picking up the neglected garments, Chi-Chi then proceeded to knock on the door and call out. "Ranma, are you okay in there?"

Chi-Chi waited for a short moment before she knocked again after receiving no answer.

"Ranma?" Chi-Chi repeated, rather agitatedly. Before she knocked again, she could hear the sound of a faucet being turned off.

'Oh...I guess she didn't hear me over the water,' Chi-Chi thought.

Deciding to cut to the chase, Chi-Chi grabbed the doorknob and let herself into the bathroom.

"Ranma, you really should answer when other people ca-!!!" Chi-Chi swallowed her words as when she entered the bathroom, instead of the perky young red-haired girl she was expecting, Chi-Chi came face to face with a well built, black-haired young boy clad in nothing but a pair of boxer shorts holding a black garment in his hands.

The pair stood frozen in place, staring at each other in complete and utter silence. A bead of sweat rolled down Ranma's forehead as Chi-Chi broke the silence with an ear shattering scream.

**"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!"**

"GYAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

[In the Living Room]

Gohan and the girls all harshly twitched as Chi-Chi's scream hit their ears.

"What was that!?" exclaimed Akane.

"That sounded like Mom!"

"That was your mom?"

The questions were put on hold as the scream was soon replaced by the sounds of crashing, smashing, and just some general conflict. The trio quickly dashed through the kitchen and into the adjacent hallway where they witnessed a topless male Ranma, with his shirt in hand, dart away from Chi-Chi who was striking at him with a broom.

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU!!??" Chi-Chi yelled, making everyone present shudder.

"Mom hold on!" Gohan cried waving his hands defensively. His plea went ignored as Chi-Chi dashed through Gohan and the girls, knocking them aside, and continued to swing the broom at Ranma.

"I...guess she knows about Ranma's curse," Videl stammered.

"I told you it was a bad idea."

'Huh...so that's what Videl meant by intense...' thought a surprisingly impressed Akane.

With a fearful yelp Ranma leapt over Chi-Chi's assault and dashed into the kitchen. He managed to slip back into his shirt, but was barely given time to rest as Chi-Chi advanced on him nigh instantly. Fortunately, Ranma was still able to keep one step ahead of Chi-Chi and nimbly avoid her attacks.

"Geeze Ms. Chi-Chi, calm the hell down!" Ranma quickly exclaimed.

Dashing to the opposite end of the kitchen, Ranma grabbed a nearby mop and used it to parry Chi-Chi's incoming attacks. As Chi-Chi launched a powerful strike, Ranma bracedhimself and blocked it with his makeshift weapon. The two clashed and their battle was brought to a standstill as they struggled against each other.

"Alright Buster, start talking! Who are you, what are you doing in my house, and how do you know my name!?" Chi-Chi demanded.

"We just spoke a few minutes ago!" Ranma replied. "Do you always attack your guests like this!?"

"Only when they show up...UNINVITED!" Chi-Chi quickly shoved Ranma backwards, raising the broom in her arm intending to strike with a fierce downward swing.

Ranma quickly fixed himself and prepared to counterattack. 'Hmm...I probably shouldn't be beatin' up on my new friend's Mom like this, but she attacked me first. I'll try and end this quickly.'

"An opening!"

"Kyaa!"

Quickly swiping his weapon downwards, Ranma struck at Chi-Chi's legs, sweeping her off her feet and knocking her onto her backside. Twirling the mop in his hand, Ranma gave a triumphant smirk as Chi-Chi toppled over and dropped her weapon.

Before she could hit the floor however, Chi-Chi felt a strong arm wrap itself around her waist, holding her in place.

"Phew! That was a close one," said a cheerful male voice.

Both Chi-Chi and Ranma gasped as they laid their eyes on an orange clad man with wild and spiky black hair who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, carrying Chi-Chi's discarded broom.

'Who the Hell is that!?'

"Goku!" Chi-Chi gleefully exclaimed.

The Saiyan quickly helped his wife back to her feet while Ranma took a cautious step backwards. Just then, Gohan and the girls, having finally recovered from being trampled by Chi-Chi, quickly dashed into the room.

"Mom wait!" Gohan exclaimed.

All eyes turned to the three teens and Goku shot them a warm smile. "Ah Gohan, Videl. You guys are back," Goku greeted.

'Who's that?' Akane thought.

"Dad/Goku?"

'That's Gohan's father?' Thought Akane.

"Dad, when'd you get back?" Gohan asked.

"Just a few seconds ago. I heard your Mom screaming on my way back and decided to use my Instant Transmission instead," Goku replied. "Now, can someone tell me what's been going on here?" Goku asked. "I just got back so I'm a little lost."

Chi-Chi's eyes narrowed as she snatched the broom out of Goku's hand before menacingly aiming it at Ranma. "I'll tell you what's going on, this perverted little delinquent broke into our house!"

"Huh?"

"No I didn't! And who you callin' a 'perverted little delinquent'!?" Ranma snapped.

"No, she got that part right Ranma, you _are_ a perverted little delinquent," Akane snidely remarked.

Chi-Chi paused as a confused expression found itself on her face. Turning back to the others, she asked, "Ranma? Wait a sec, isn't that your red haired friend? Where is she? I almost forgot about her!"

Ranma let out a sigh as he responded. "You can stop your searchin'."

Goku and Chi-Chi shot Ranma a pair of confused looks as they watched him grab a cup off the counter and fill it with water. There confusion escalated when they saw him pour it over his head and his hair instantly changed from black to red and he appeared to shrink.

"Huh!?"

"WHAAAA-!?"

As Ranma shook the water out of her hair, Chi-Chi froze and let out a flabbergasted shriek. Goku's expression matched hers, though to a visibly lesser degree.

"Hey wait a second, weren't you just a boy!?" Goku exclaimed.

"It's a LONG story." Ranma replied. Turning to Chi-Chi, she gave the stunned matriarch a sheepish grin.

"Ummm...I'm sorry you had to find out like this, but I hope we can at least move on," Ranma awkwardly said.

Chi-Chi remained frozen in place for a brief moment until out of nowhere, she dashed at Ranma and grabbed her by the opening of her shirt.

"Hey wha-!?"

"Just what do you think you're doing!? Cover yourself up!" Chi-Chi exclaimed, quickly bringing the two ends together.

"Huh!?"

When their 'fight' first started, Ranma had been topless as a male. Though he did get his shirt back on, he hadn't had any time to button up, so now that he was female again, Ranma was exposing quite a bit of her assets.

"Wait a second, you just saw me transform from a boy to a girl, and THAT'S what your first concern is!?" Ranma exclaimed.

"That's no excuse to go exposing yourself like some bimbo!" Chi-Chi exclaimed.

"Okay, I get it, now back off, I can button my own shirt!" Ranma desperately tried to shove Chi-Chi off but the frenzied mother was beyond reason right now as she tried to forcibly keep Ranma's shirt closed.

Goku let out a small chuckle. "Yup, that's Chi-Chi for ya."

As Ranma and Chi-Chi continued to grapple with each other, the others continued towatch from the sidelines.

"Hmph, that's what he gets for having no modesty," Akane scoffed.

"This is even worse than when Chi-Chi and _I_ first met," Videl added with an awkward grin. "Right Gohan?"

"Ehh...ehhh..."

Videl turned to see Gohan, his face red as an apple staring dead at Ranma and his Mother as they continued to tussle, for everytime they grappled with each other, Ranma's exposed chest would sway around and sometimes get exposed even more.

A vein popping on her forehead, her eyes narrowing sharply, Videl harshly smacked her hand over Gohan's eyes and yelled, "Don't look!!"

[A few minutes later]

Everyone was gathered in the living room after finally having calmed down from the skirmish in the kitchen. As the tension died down, Gohan took the time to fully explain the situation to his parents while a now male Ranma also explained his curse.

"So...you change into a girl when you're hit with cold water and a boy when hit with hot water right?" Goku asked.

Ranma nodded his confirmation.

"But wait, there's one thing I'm still a bit confused by. Are you a boy who turns into a girl, or are you a girl who becomes a boy?" Goku asked.

"The first one," Ranma answered.

"Oh, okay, I think I got it now," Goku nodded. "And you know, your curse kinda reminds me of my old friend Launch," Goku chuckled as multiple scenes of Launch sneezing and switching personalities played in his head.

 _"Who's that?"_ Videl whispered to Gohan.

_"I don't know, I've never met them before."_

"So when you were in the bathroom, you changed back into a boy and were wringing your clothes out, correct?" Chi-Chi asked.

"Yeah. Again, sorry for scarin' ya like that," Ranma awkwardly apologized. "I was gonna show my curse off anyway, but I didn't expect ya to barge in on me like that."

 _"Is it me, or is this becoming a trend?"_ Videl whispered to Akane who shrugged.

Chi-Chi could only blush awkwardly as the scene of walking in on Ranma replayed in her mind.

"I think I'm the one who owes you an apology, especially after attacking you like that."

Ranma chuckled. "Nah, don't worry about it, I'm kinda used to getting attacked like that," he said. "But I gotta admit, the way you handled that broom was pretty impressive."

"Well..." Chi-Chi gave a bashful grin.

"Man, I wish I'd gotten here fast enough to see that," said a slightly dejected Goku. "It's not often we get to see _you_ fight, Chi-Chi."

"Because unlike you Goku, I have better ways to spend my time than just fight and train all day," Chi-Chi said crossing her arms.

"Then...how come you were sparring with Goten the other day?" Goku asked.

"Wait what!?" exclaimed Gohan.

Chi-Chi could only freeze with a flushed face, as she hadn't expected Goku to bring THAT up.

"Uhhhhmmm...I think that's our cue to leave," saiad Videl. "Besides, we've got work to do."

Gohan nodded. "She's right. Let's get going!" he proclaimed.

"Hey! If you guys are gonna train, can I join ya?" Goku asked.

"Ehe, thanks Dad, but I think we'll be fine on our own." Gohan chuckled.

[A Minute Later]

Gohan, Videl, Ranma and Akane were all making their way out of the mountain home and into the forest while Goku waved them off.

"We'll be back later!" Gohan called running off.

"Remember, if you guys need any help, you can call me!" Goku replied.

"Sure thing Dad!"

As the four young fighters disappeared into the forest, Goku stepped back into the house and turned to face Chi-Chi.

"Goku...how did you know I've been training with Goten again?" she asked.

"Well...I wasn't sure at first, but I couldn't help but notice you've been looking a bit more fit than usual, and since Goten's the only other person here while Gohan's at school and I'm out in the fields, I figured he was the only one you could've had for a training partner," Goku explained.

At Goku's explanation, Chi-Chi couldn't help but give herself a quick once over. She hadn't notice any major difference in her body lately, but if Goku did, and her scuffle with Ranma was any indicator, then maybe her (not so) secret sessions with Goten actually were paying off.

"Well, I'd better get dinner started."

"All right! I'm starving!" Goku exclaimed.

"Not so fast Goku!" Chi-Chi stopped him. "I already have some food prepared, but if you want to eat now, you have to finish the work in the garden first."

"Aww, Chi-Chi, I already did that before I took Goten to Capsule Corp!" Goku pleaded.

"Oh really?" Chi-Chi raised an eyebrow.

"Yes!"

"They'd better be, cause if I go out to those fields and they're NOT, you're only getting one bowl of food tonight." Chi-Chi threatened.

A large bead of sweat rolled down Goku's face. "Uhhh...actually, I'd better go double check first!" Goku instantly zipped out of the house and flew opposite the forest to their crops.

"Works every time."

[With Gohan and the Others]

Led by Gohan, the quartet sprinted through the perilous forest of Mt. Paouzu. The continued on for a good few minutes before they finally exited the forest and came into a lush green clearing.

As everyone started doing their own warm ups, Gohan turned to Videl. "Videl, while I don't mind training you again, are you sure you still want to fight this Ryoga guy?"

Videl stood firm and nodded, "You bet."

"Okay. In that case..." Gohan turned to Ranma and Akane and asked, "You guys said before that Videl couldn't beat him right?"

Akane was hesitant to answer and avoided eye contact with either of them, but Ranma opted to be direct. "It's true. If she were to fight him right now, she'd lose."

"Could you stop talking about me like I'm not here!?" Videl snapped.

"Look, I'm just talkin' from experience," Ranma replied. "Ryoga's a tough ass nut. He'd have to be to be my archrival."

Videl narrowed her eyes, but then flashed Ranma a smirk. "So basically, you're saying the only way I'll have a chance of beating this guy is if I can beat you?"

"No, I'm sayin' you won't stand a chance against him unless you can at least give me a serious workout," Ranma taunted.

"Hold on guys," Gohan said stepping in between Ranma and Videl. Videl lightly pushed Gohan aside and took a defensive stance before Ranma.

"So Saotome, ready to put your money where your mouth is?"

Ranma gave a confident grin and took his own defensive stance while Gohan and Akane stood aside and watched the bout unfold.

"Should...should we try to stop them?" Gohan asked.

"Maybe...but then again, this is a fight everyone's been waiting to see!" Akane replied.

Ranma and Videl stood facing each other off, both of them with cocky grins on their faces.

Videl dashed forward to make the first move, however, she paused in midair when the ground between them appeared to spontaneously explode. Videl quickly flew backwards to avoid the blast zone as Gohan quickly jumped in to shield her from the rubble.

"Are you okay?" Gohan asked.

"Yeah, but what happened?" Videl replied.

Through the smoke, the four could make out the sillhouette of a person carrying a large bag. The person stepped through the smoke and revealed themself to be a young man clad in yellow.

"Ryoga!?" Ranma and Akane exclaimed.

Surely enough, Ranma's wandering rival had appeared from the ground below. No doubt having gotten lost somewhere again and having used the Breaking Point to move underground.

"Ranma!? What are you doing here? Am I back in Nerima?" Ryoga asked.

"You're at the Eastern Mount Paouzu," Akane answered.

Ryoga quickly turned to his secret crush's voice and stammered, "Oh Akane, I didn't expect you to be-!"

Ryoga paused for when his eyes glanced next to Akane, he saw a face he hadn't expected to see for a while.

"You!" Ryoga pointed at Gohan.

"Uhh...hey." Gohan awkwardly responded.

"What are you doing here!?" Ryoga snapped.

"I live on this mountain. My house is just through the forest back that way," Gohan pointed.

Ryoga dusted himself off and chuckled. "Hmhmhm, and here I thought I'd have to wait a week to take you down. What fortune that I'll be able to beat you here and now!"

Ryoga dropped his backpack and took a step towards Gohan before Videl quickly got in between the two boys.

"Sorry, but you won't be fighting Gohan today. I'm your opponent!" she declared.

Ryoga looked at Videl for a few brief seconds before letting out a discontent sigh. "So...is this your game? Sending a woman in your place of our man-to-man duel? You're despicable!" he said to Gohan.

"Whoa, hold on a minute..." Gohan began.

Videl sharply narrowed her eyes before she responded to Ryoga, cutting Gohan off, "Gohan didn't send me, and he doesn't need me to fight his battles for him. He's more than strong enough to beat you as is!"

Ryoga chuckled. "You have a lot of faith in him. Let's see if it's well placed." He then proceeded to step towards Gohan, but Videl stood in his way again.

"I already told you, I'M the one your fighting!" Videl yelled back.

"Butt out!" Ryoga exclaimed. "I'd rather not waste my time fighting an inferior opponent, especially if it's a woman."

'Damn Ryoga, harsh words,' Ranma thought.

'Hmph, he doesn't have to be nasty about it!' thought Akane.

A vein popped on Videl's forehead. "Inferior...? INFERIOR!?"

"Videl...take it easy..." A briefly sweating Gohan stepped forward to attempt to console his enraged girlfriend, but it was all for naught as she launched herself at Ryoga with fierce battle cry.

Dashing forward, Videl launched her foot straight into Ryoga's gut before briefly retreating and following up with a powerful roundhouse kick to the side of his head. As she landed back on the ground following her attack, she turned back to Ryoga and said, "Who's inferior now?"

Videl received no answer as Ryoga stood frozen for a brief moment. After a few seconds passed, Ryoga stepped forward and walked passed Videl seeming completely unfazed.

'Wha-What!?'

"Consider my taking those attacks of yours a little apology for insulting your skills as a martial artist, but now, I must ask you to keep out of our fight. This is between me and him." Ryoga proclaimed.

'I put all I had into those moves and he's not even fazed!?' Videl thought in disbelief.

Turning back to Ryoga, who was still approaching Gohan, Videl clenched her fist tight and launched a flying kick at him one more time. "Don't write me off you jerk!"

This time however, instead of taking the attack, Ryoga quickly whipped around and grabbed Videl by the leg.

"Huh!?"

"I'm asking you to stop," Ryoga said tightening his grip on her leg. "Like I said before, I don't have the time or heart to strike an opponent who's that much weaker than I am."

"Who's weak!?" Videl twisted herself around launching her free leg at Ryoga's face, but he once again took the attack without so much as flinching.

With a vaguely irritated grunt, Ryoga casually tossed Videl behind him towards Ranma and Akane.

"Videl!" Gohan called.

"I got her!" Ranma quickly sprang into the air and caught Videl in his arms before safely landing back on the ground.

"Now that she's out of the way, let's pick up where we left off," Ryoga said dropping into a defensive stance.

Gohan shot Ryoga a light glare. He hadn't intended to fight Ryoga at all, but after he manhandled Videl the way he did, he now had a reason to.

"Fine, if you're so eager to fight me, let's go!" Gohan proclaimed taking his own defensive stance.

From the sides, Ranma and Akane were watching the scene unfold with great interest. Though they got a glimpse of his strength back at Videl's house, they'd yet to see hi fight seriously and were curious to see what he could really do, especially against Ryoga.

Videl on the other hand watched the scene with her fist clenched so tight, it was shaking.

Before either of the two combatants could make a move, a loud crash filled the sky as the light began to dim.

Everyone looked up to see dark clouds rolling in which could only mean one thing a storm was coming.

While Ranma let out an irritated sigh at possibly being transformed again, Ryoga let out an internal fearful yelp. He couldn't transform now, Akane was still here. Quickly darting backwards to grab his backpack, Ryoga stated, "We'll finish this at our regularly scheduled date, one week from today!"

On that note, Ryoga dashed into the forest, completely unaware of what his next destination entailed.

'Moron doesn't even realize it's been two days since he last showed up,' Ranma thought.

"Hey wait!" Gohan called after him, but too late. Ryoga was already gone beyond earshot.

"He has the right idea," Akane noted. "Let's get back to your place before the storm hits!"

"You're right," Gohan nodded. "Follow me!"

Gohan dashed into the forest opposite Ryoga quickly followed by Ranma and Akane. As the others shoved off to Gohan's house, Videl just stood alone in the field staring at the direction Ryoga ran in, taking in the reality of how outmatched she truly appeared to be.

'What...is he?' Videl thought.

"Videl, come on!" Gohan called.

Stirring from her thoughts, Videl quickly ran after the others before she took to the air. As she flew, she couldn't stop thinking about the encounter with Ryoga. She'd been eager to make him pay for what he did to her father's dojo, but if their meeting today was any indication, then maybe this _was_ going to be a lot tougher than she initially thought.

**_(A/N: So, Ranma has a brief fight with a surprise opponent and Videl gets a small taste of what Ryoga's made of. Speaking of which, I know Ranma's stance about fighting with women, but I don't recall Ryoga fighting a girl who WASN'T female Ranma (PLEASE correct me if I'm wrong on this, but don't be harsh), so I hope his interaction with Videl was accurate. As for Videl's attacks on Ryoga, well, Videl's a tough chick, but I think we can all agree that Ranma, even at the earliest of his series, was stronger than her (heck, even Akane's stronger), and if Ranma's initial attacks barely fazed Ryoga during their second MAJOR battle (The Bakusai Tenketsu fight), then I doubt that Videl as she is now would be much of a threat...so we'll just have to fix that won't we? Stay tuned as Videl learns exactly what she's up against and what she has to do to even up the score.)_ **

 

 


	14. Clash in the Cave

**My Life's Stranger Than Yours**

 

_ Escape From the Storm: Clash in the Cave _

Though our quartet of friends made a fast break back to Gohan's house, they were unable to fully avoid the incoming storm as it abruptly started drizzling.

"God freaking dammit," complained an irritated Female Ranma. "How much longer till we make it back to your place!?"

"Not too long...but if you'd prefer, I think I have another idea!" Gohan replied.

"Anything, just get us out of this rain ASAP!" Ranma yelled.

"Okay then, follow me!"

Slightly changing his path, the girls followed Gohan until they found themselves at the mouth of a cave.

'A cave?' Ranma and Akane thought.

"Uhh dude...!" Ranma began.

"Don't worry, nothing lives here, trust me!" Gohan assured them.

Too irritated to argue, Ranma quickly dashed into the cave behind Gohan, followed by Akane and Videl, just as the light drizzle steadily began to become a downpour.

"Phew, glad we made it outta that before we got  _totally_  drenched," said Akane.

"Lucky us," Ranma snapped sarcastically wringing water out of her pigtail.

Gohan stood by the mouth of the cave and kept an eye on the weather. "Okay. I think we should wait here a moment and see if the storm passes. If not, I'll fly us back home in a flash."

"Yeah...but why couldn't you just fly us back to your house in the first place?" asked Ranma.

"Well...don't ya think it's a bit too soon for us to head back home?" said Gohan. "I mean, with that Ryoga guy showing up, and then the storm, we didn't exactly get a chance to really train."

"True," Ranma replied.

"Speaking of Ryoga, do you think he got out of the storm in time?" asked a concerned Akane.

[Elsewhere in the Forests of Mt. Paouzu]

A small black piglet could be seen desperately scampering away from a saber-toothed tiger. The fact that it was actually outspeeding the wildcat was beyond impressive.

'I swear, both Ranma and THAT guy will pay for this!'

[Back in the cave]

"Who knows," shrugged Ranma. "Eh, Ryoga's a big boy, he'll be fine," she nonchalantly added.

"I guess you're right...though I do wonder why he ran off the way he did. You wouldn't think a bit of water would keep him from a fight." said Akane.

Ranma sweatdropped with a deadpan expression. 'If only you knew,' he thought.

"Well, either way, we may be here for a bit, so I think we might as well enjoy this little break while we can," Gohan said.

"Ehhh, I'm not ready to take a break yet," Ranma exclaimed. "Like you said, we barely got to actually do anything since Ryoga and the storm showed up."

Gohan quickly took a brief second. Now that he noticed, the cave was actually pretty spacious. Maybe there'd still be plenty of room for them to actually get some work done.

"Alright, if you say so. Where should we start?" Gohan asked.

"Ranma!"

All eyes turned to Videl who'd been all but silent since they'd entered the cave.

"Videl?"

"What is it?"

"Ranma, fight me!" Videl declared.

"What? Why?" asked Gohan.

"Well, looks like someone's upset about their fight with Ryoga...if you could even call it that," Ranma teased.

Videl clenched her fist in irritation. Before she could make a move however, Akane beat her to the punch, literally, and pounded Ranma into the wall.

"Could you be any more insensitive you jerk!" Akane snapped.

Videl let out a sigh, her previous anger dissipating. "Akane stop...he's right."

"He is?"

"I am?"

"Videl..." Gohan interjected. He wasn't the best at readaing people, but he could tell that there was more to Videl's current mood than she was letting on.

"It's more than just you losing the fight that's bothering you, isn't it?"

Videl shyly turned her head away from Gohan, avoiding eye-contact. After remaining silent for a few seconds, she spoke up.

"Gohan...you know good and well that this isn't the first time I've fought someone who could just take all my attacks and keep on going like I wasn't even there." said Videl.

Gohan raised an eyebrow in thought. 'What does she mean by that?' It took him a few seconds but, but he soon realized exactly what Videl was talking about.

"Wait, you're not talking about...!"

Videl nodded before he could finish, cutting him off.

"Wait what  _is_  she talking about?" asked Akane.

"It's...something we generally don't like to bring up," Gohan solemnly replied.

"Really? Why?" asked Ranma.

"Let's just say it's not exactly a pleasant memory...for either of us."

As Gohan finished his statement, Videl let out desperate yell and proceeded to punch the cave wall in frustration.

"Videl!"

'Dammit...I'm sick of being outmatched like this!' Videl internally exclaimed. 'I know I'll never be as strong as Gohan, or heck even Goten, but still...I want to at least be known as the strongest Human, and I won't let some big moron who can't even read a map beat me again!'

"Ranma, you said I wouldn't stand a chance against Ryoga if I couldn't at least match you, right? Well in that case, I want to know just exactly what I have to work towards!"

Ranma gave an impressed whistle. Springing to her feet, Ranma took a defensive stance. "Alright, if you insist, but don't get mad at me if you can't keep up!"

Videl dropped into a stance of her own as Gohan moved over to Akane's side to give the two of them more room. Sure the cave was more spacious than expected, but there still wasn't too much to work with.

"Well, it looks like they'll finally get their sparring match after all," stated Akane.

Gohan remained silent as he eyed the two with concern. Videl was a very prideful girl and the encounter with Ryoga had obviously shaken her, but he couldn't help but wonder if fighting Ranma would actually help her or somehow make things worse.

The two combatants stood still staring each other down, until Videl decided to throw the first punch, which Ranma easily dodged by swaying to the side. Videl aptly followed up with another punch which Ranma dodged again. As Videl threw a third punch at the redhaired girl, she responded by hopping aside.

Ranma nonchalantly placed both arms behind her head and continued to dodge as Videl threw punch after punch at her. As the 'battle' continued, Videl found herself getting more and more irritated.

"Would you fight seriously!?" Videl yelled.

"Sorry, I was just under the impression that we were just warming up," Ranma taunted.

'Why does it feel like I've seen this before?' Akane thought with a disdainful look on her face.

Her eyes sharply narrowed, Videl threw a high kick at Ranma that the pigtailed fighter blocked. Catching Videl by the ankle, Ranma lightly shoved her back, knocking her off balance and on to the ground.

Videl rolled backwards, setting herself straight, but before she could fully recover, Ranma dashed in front of her instantaneously and playfully flicked Videl on the forehead.

Videl looked up at Ranma with irritation in her eyes, but the aquatic cursed fighter stood over her and extended a hand. With a sigh, Videl took Ranma's hand and let her help her up.

"Let's just call this match a demonstration," said Ranma. "I'd fight a bit harder, but I don't want this place to come down on us."

"Fair enough I guess...but next time, could you do more than just play defense?" Videl pleaded.

"Hmph, Ranma does that all the time when we spar. Dodge and block, but never fights back," Akane interjected.

"Really? Gohan's the same. I mean, I get that he doesn't want to hurt me and everything, but come on!" Videl replied.

"Uhhhm...we're right here!" Ranma snapped.

Gohan could only turn away and grin, a light blush on his face. 'Don't worry Videl. After today, I promise I'll be stricter,' Gohan internally stated.

As the girls, sans Ranma, laughed, the humourous moment was halted by a booming thunderclap, followed by a flash of lightning.

"Eeek!" Akane squealed bouncing into Gohan's arms.

The young half saiyan yelped in surprise, unsure of what to do in this situation. To Gohan's fear, Videl raised an eyebrow with an expression that looked less than pleased. His fear was abruptly put to rest with Videl's following words.

"Akane...are you afraid of thunder?" she asked.

Realizing the position she was in, Akane quickly motioned for Gohan to let her down before replying, "No, I was just...caught off guard."

'Ya know, normally I'd make some sort of teasing comment about 'why'd you grab onto Gohan like that if you were just caught off guard', but since I already know you're not usually scared by thunder or lightning like this, I'm gonna pass this time,' Ranma mentally proclaimed.

Sliding away from Akane, Gohan quickly went to the mouth of the cave to view the storm which, judging from the previous thunder and lightning, had only gotten worse.

"We can't stay in this cave all night," Gohan said. "Guess we have no choice. All three of you, grab onto me and I'll fly us home in an instant."

Though Ranma and Videl nodded their agreement, Akane was hesitant. "Uhh...are you sure it's safe to fly out in a heavy storm like this?" she asked.

"Don't worry, I've flown through worse than this, and since my house isn't too far ahead, it won't be for long, maybe two, three minutes tops."

Akane was still visibly hesitant but she eventually nodded her agreement as well.

[A few seconds later]

Ranma and Akane each wrapped an arm around Gohan's back while Videl had both of hers lightly wrapped around his neck, as the young saiyan prepared to blast off.

"Okay, you girls ready?"

"Ready!" Videl confirmed.

"I'm a guy ya jerk!" Ranma exclaimed.

"Heh, oh right..."

"I'm...ready!" Akane said sternly. Fear still evident on her features, Akane nigh instinctively pulled herself closer against Gohan until her chest pressed against his side.

Gohan's face instantly lit up a light shade of red as Akane held onto him tightly. This however, did not go unnoticed by Videl or Ranma, the latter of whom's face became an impish grin.

"Oh Gohan, I know we're in a hurry, but please don't go too fast. I'd hate to fall off from so high up," she said in her best playful teasing voice.

"I...I'll do my best..." Gohan chuckled.

"Oh thank you!" Ranma said flirtatiously pressing her chest into Gohan's side as well.

Gohan all but froze up from the excessive female contact. He'd never been this uncomfortably physical with a girl before, not even Videl. Speaking of whom...

"Gah!"

Gohan let out a small groan as Videl lightly squeezed her arms around his neck, before subsequently kicking Ranma in the back of the leg.

"What was that for?" Ranma and Gohan said simultaneously.

"You," she turned to Ranma, "stop teasing Gohan."

"And you," she turned back to Gohan, "just focus on flying, okay."

"Y-yes ma'am!"

With a soft inhale, Gohan let his energy burst before he blasted out of the cave and in a white streak, jetted off for his home.

Despite the pouring rain, Ranma was surprisingly unconcerned about getting wet, thanks in part ot him already being in female form. The thing that caught her attention now was the amount of power Gohan was emitting.

'What the hell is this guy!?' Ranma thought. 'All he's doing is flying, but his letting off such an insane Chi. This is nothing like when I felt it from Videl, this is a LOT higher...I think it may be even greater than Herb's!'

Ranma was unable to dwell on the thought for long because Gohan started to hastily descend. They'd arrived back at the mountain home in record time and dashed inside just as quickly.

Slamming the door shut, the four young fighters panted as water dripped off all of them.

"Gohan! Is that you!?" Chi-Chi called from the kitchen. Dashing to the entrance, Chi-Chi let out a loud gasp as she laid eyes on the four drenched teenagers.

"H-hey Mom...we're back." said Gohan.

 _[Eyecatch]_  
_Akane and Videl run to each other before passing each other and stopping in a position similar to the cover._  
_[End Eyecatch]_

Gohan and a now Male Ranma, sat in the living room clad in nothing but their shorts and towels each while Akane and Videl were both garbed in white bathrobes.

"Honestly, you kids should've come straight home once the storm started, now look at you all!" Chi-Chi exclaimed.

"It's not like that Mom. We found shelter in a cave and waited to see if the storm would die down a bit," Gohan defended.

"What's done is done," Chi-Chi sighed. "Either way, I think you could all use a fresh set of clothes until yours are all dry. Gohan let Ranma borrow some of yours."

"No problem." Gohan got up from the couch and dashed upstairs, with Ranma right behind.

"You two come with me," she said to Akane and Videl. "I'll lend you some of mine." Wasting no time, the two young girls followed Chi-Chi to her bedroom.

[Shortly]

Once Gohan and Ranma made it to Gohan's room, the half saiyan wasted no time in slipping his towel off and darting to his closet.

As Gohan rummaged through clothes, Ranma was eager to get some new info about...what his deal was.

"Okay Gohan, spill it!" Ranma exclaimed.

"Spill what?"

"When we were flyin' back to your place, you were letting off a pretty high Chi signal," Ranma stated.

"Chi signal...wait you know how to sense energy?" Gohan asked.

Ranma shrugged. "When they're expending energy, yeah. You saying you can sense chi just...whenever?"

"Yeah. It's one of the more basic techniques, but it's a pretty vital one amongst me, my Dad and his friends." Gohan replied.

'Flying and sensing chi whenever you can...wonder what other techniques he's got under his belt,' Ranma thought.

While Ranma was lost in thought, Gohan pulled out his orange gi and a green tracksuit and tossed them on the bed.

Ranma glanced at the two outfits and raised an eyebrow. "Huh, what's with the Gym Teacher outfit?" Ranma asked.

Gohan turned back and chuckled. "I...actually do wear that during Gym at school believe it or not."

"Figures..." Ranma paused then turned his gaze over to the orange gi where his face briefly lit up. "Hey...isn't that the same kinda uniform your old man wears."

Gohan gave a solemn nod. "Yeah, it is. My brother's outfit is similar, except it's black instead of blue."

'Speaking of which...where IS Dad?' Gohan thought.

"Hmm...so like, is orange a family color or somethin'?" Ranma asked.

"Oh no, it's nothing like that. The orange and blue uniform is actually the staple of the school my dad trained in when he was younger," said Gohan.

"Must've been quite the place if he still wears the same uniform," said Ranma. "What's the school called anyway?"

"It's called the Turtle School."

"Turtle School...?" Ranma repeated.

"Yeah."

Ranma let the name sink in. For some reason, the name sounded familiar but he just couldn't place it. Ranma sat in silent thought for a few brief seconds before it hit him.

'Wait a sec...didn't Pops and Mr. Tendo say something about...!'

_"Son Gohan is the name of a once famous Martial Artist who trained under the Legendary Turtle Hermit!"_

Ranma recalled his father's words and his eyes widened in realization. 'So Gohan does know about the Turtle Guy since his Dad was a student! Maybe Pops and Mr. Tendo were on to something after all!'

Just as the pieces began to fall into place inside Ranma's mind, his thoughts were interrupted by Gohan calling his name.

"Ranma?"

"Yeah?"

"Punch me."

"...What?"

"You said yourself you weren't going all out against Videl back in the cave, but I have a feeling it wasn't due to the lack of space," Gohan said.

Ranma shot Gohan a smug grin. "Was it that obvious?"

"Maybe just a little," Gohan grinned back. His face becoming serious, Gohan simply took a light stance signaling that he was prepared for an attack.

"This time, I want you to hit me with everything you've got," Gohan stated.

Ranma chuckled as he cracked his knuckles. "Okay pal, but remember, you asked for it!"

With a low, but fierce grunt, Ranma threw a full strength punch at Gohan that the young hybrid easily caught.

Ranma continued to try and put more force behind his blow, but Gohan's grip left the cursed fighter straining to even move. After remaining frozen in place for a few seconds, Gohan flashed Ranma a small grin before releasing his hand.

Shaking his hand out and rubbing his wrist, Ranma asked, "Okay dude, just what was that all about?"

"I...just needed to check something," Gohan replied.

Ranma was more than a bit curious at Gohan's reasoning for him wanting to hit him. Ultimately though, he decided to drop the issue for now...at least until he got some clothes on.

[Meanwhile]

Her robe discarded, Akane placed outfit after outfit against her frame in front of a mirror. Ever since Chi-Chi offered her wardrobe to the two girls, Akane was having trouble picking an outfit while Videl had made no attempt to even find one.

'Jeeze, does Ms. Chi-Chi have anything that doesn't look like it comes from Shampoo's closet?' Akane thought.

As Akane modeled more and more outfits, Videl was lost deep in thought as the memory of her recent encounter with Ryoga and her spar with Ranma replayed endlessly in her mind.

_'I don't have the time or heart to strike an opponent who's so much weaker than me.'_

The sting of his words made Videl's entire body tremble with frustration. 'Who the hell does he think he's calling weak!?'

"Videl?...Videl!?"

"Huh?"

Snapping out of her inner musings, Videl came face to face with Chi-Chi, who had just reentered, and Akane who were looking at her with a pair of concerned looks.

"Oh sorry, what were we saying!?" Videl exclaimed.

"I...asked if you were staying for dinner," Chi-Chi replied.

"Oh...yeah. How bout you and Ranma, Akane?"

"Sounds good to me, and Ranma won't turn down food," Akane replied.

Though Chi-Chi was delighted at having more guests, she could also tell that  _something_  was bothering Videl.

"Videl, are you alright? You've been looking pretty out of it since you and the others got back," said Chi-Chi. "Wait...don't tell me being out in that rain got you sick!" she exclaimed placing a hand on Videl's forehead.

"Chi-Chi, please! I'm fine," Videl assured. "We'll be out in a few minutes okay."

Chi-Chi was understandably skeptical, but she relented and left the two young girls to their own.

"You're still thinking about Ryoga aren't you?" asked Akane.

Videl clenched her fists even tighter and replied, "I just can't believe it. I know I said this wasn't the first time I've fought a guy who could just take all my attacks, but at least with the other guy, I at felt like I was doing something before..." Videl quickly stopped herself before the memory became too vivid in her mind. "Grrrgh...Ryoga just brushed me aside like I was literally nothing." Videl strained.

"That's Ryoga's thing. He's adept at tanking attacks and then overwhelming his opponents with pure power," said Akane.

"But I've dealt with those types of fighters before! Are you telling me that he's just  _that_  higher leveled than me?" Videl exclaimed.

"Like we said, he's Ranma's rival for a reason," Akane noted.

'Why do they keep saying that?' Videl irritatedly thought.

Videl suspiciously narrowed an eyebrow. "You know, I may not know exactly how strong he is, but you talk about Ranma like he's invincible or something," she noted.

"Oh please. Ranma's gotten his butt kicked PLENTY of times before, but there's no denying that he's an incredibly strong martial artist...for better or worse," Akane groaned. "Both he and Ryoga have gone to some crazy extremes to beat each other, so it's no wonder that they'd be stronger than most normal fighters."

'They're starting to sound like Goku and Vegeta,' Videl thought.

"So basically, you're saying that unless I go to some asinine length to train, I won't stand a chance against him?" Videl asked.

"Not necessarily, but if you want any hope of winning, you might want to come up with a technique that'll be able to break Ryoga's defenses first." Akane suggested.

Videl slumped down on the bed and let out an aggravated sigh. "Well that'll be a cinch," she sarcastically snapped.

"What's with that tone?" Akane replied.

"Sorry. I'm just thinking that this probably wouldn't be a problem if Gohan would train me harder," Videl lamented.

"Well, you said it yourself, he doesn't want to hurt you, right?" said Akane.

"I know, but even if he doesn't want to spar with me, he could at least teach me how to use energy more."

"Hmmmm..."

"What is it?"

Akane thought back to the special techniques Ranma had learned. For the few he used on a regular basis, one person was at the forefront in teaching them to him.

'Maybe...' Akane shook her head. 'No, no, that's a terrible idea! I can't take Videl to see  _her_! Besides, there's no way she'd actually do it either!'

"Akane, what're you doing?" Videl asked.

"I was just uh..." Akane stammered.

Fortunately, Akane wouldn't have to finish her sentence as in the next instance, a familiar man garbed in orange and blue suddenly materialized beside the two girls. Under normal circumstances this would be a problem, but considering the two girls knew the man, one of them vastly more than the other, it wasn't...at least it wouldn't have been if Akane still had her robe on.

"Yo!"

"EEEEEEEKKKKKKKKK!"

**_(A/N: Hey all! Long Time no see! I bet many of you are wondering why this chapter took so long to release, and honestly, the only answer is Writer's Block. This Chapter was EXCRUCIATINGLY difficult to write for some reason. Eventually, I finally managed to put this hot mess together, but not without starting yet ANOTHER story. [For anyone interested, it's a Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows/My Hero Academia Crossover]. Here's hoping the next chapter[of both stories] won't take forever to get done. Also, regarding Ranma and Videl's 'match', I promise that they'll have a much more proactive battle some time in the future. Until next time!)_ **

**PS: Thank Zeno I got this out before the month ended!**

 


	15. Unexpected Challenge

** My Life's Stranger Than Yours **

_ Reminisce and Rivalries: An Unexpected Challenger _

"EEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!"

At the sound of Akane's shriek, Chi-Chi burst through the door wielding a broom

"Are you girls alright!?" she yelled.

"Hey hon, I'm back," Goku replied.

At the sight of her husband, Chi-Chi let out a relieved sigh.

"Hey, is everything okay in there?" called Gohan from across the hall. "I thought I heard screaming."

"Oh it's nothing son, everything's fine!" Chi-Chi assured him.

"Gee whiz Goku, I warned you about using your instant transportation like that! You nearly scared the girls half to death!"

Goku turned to see Videl in front of Akane who was curled into a ball in an attempt to cover herself, the latter shooting Goku a harsh glare that could rival that of his wife's.

"Hehe, sorry about that. I just wanted to get home and outta the rain quickly after I finally finished out in the fields," Goku chuckled.

Though they hadn't initially noticed when he first appeared, now that they got a good look at him, Goku was completely drenched and his clothes were dripping water onto the floor.

"In any case, you should hurry up and get out of those wet clothes. You still need to pick up Goten from Bulma's place," Chi-Chi reminded him.

"Oh yeah, that's right!" Goku wasted no time in pulling his farming outfit off. At the sight of Goku stripping, every female face in the room turned red and the two young girls proceeded to shield their eyes and turn their heads away.

"Goku! Not in here! Go change in Gohan's room!" Chi-Chi ordered.

"But I'm already in my gi," Goku replied.

Peeking through their fingers, the girls saw that Goku was indeed back in his orange and blue uniform. How he managed to do that before Chi-Chi coud even finish her sentence was beyond them.

"Alright then. I'm off to get Goten," said Goku.

Placing two fingers on his forehead, Goku flickered for an instant before vanishing from sight.

Despite witnessing Goku's instant transmission a couple of times before, she couldn't hide her surprise and let out a low shriek.

"Why does he feel the need to always disappear like that?" Chi-Chi said shaking her head.

"How does he even do that?" Akane asked.

Videl could only shrug. "Beats me."

"Enough about him for now. You girls should hurry and get dressed," said Chi-Chi.

"We'd have finished sooner but...we're just having a bit of trouble picking out what to wear," said Akane.

"Oh?"

Chi-Chi strolled over to the closet and began shifting through garments. A short moment later, she gasped as she pulled out an outfit, her eyes shining brightly.

"Oh my, I forgot this was here! It's been so long!"

The girls stared while Chi-Chi stared longingly at a reddish-pink and blue fighter's outfit that matched the chinese style of her normal wardrobe.

"One of you girls try this one!" Chi-Chi tossed the suit over to Videl who gave it to Akane who was still undressed.

The girl from Nerima placed the outfit against her frame before stepping in front of the mirror. While Akane checked herself out, Videl began questioning Chi-Chi's reaction to the suit.

"Chi-Chi, if you don't mind my asking, what exactly is the deal with that outfit?"

"That's the same outfit I wore the day I fought Goku in the World Marital Arts Tournament," Chi-Chi answered.

"Wait what!? Really!?" Videl exclaimed.

"You fought in the Martial Arts Tournament!?" Akane added.

Chi-Chi nodded. "Mmhmm. Not only that, but on that same day, Goku and I got married!"

"HUH!?"

"I had the same reaction," Videl giggled.

The girls turned towards Chi-Chi as she sat on the bed with a nostalgic expression on her face.

"When we were kids, Goku made a promise to marry me, but he was always running off training and going on adventures with the others so we didn't get to see much of each other. The Tournament was my best bet to see him again, and we were eventually pitted against each other. Goku ended up beating me and went on to win the whole Tournament and afterwards, he kept his promise and we got married."

Chi-Chi stared lovingly into space as the memories replayed in her mind. As Videl watched Chi-Chi reminisce, Akane handed her Chi-Chi's old outfit.

"Here. I think this thing suits you a bit more than it does me."

Videl held the outfit against her body and viewed herself in the mirror with a satisfied expression.

"You know Videl, you're welcome to keep that if you'd like," said Chi-Chi. "It...doesn't fit me anymore anyways, " she hesitantly added.

Videl's expression grew steadily brighter. "Thanks Chi-Chi."

Not wanting to intrude on the moment right now, Akane excused herself back into the closet for she still needed to find a something to wear. Shifting through outfits, she soon pulled out what looked to be a bikini with a cape.

"What the heck is this? A swimsuit!?"

"KYAAAAA!"

Chi-Chi harshly twitched before dashing over to Akane and snatching the outfit out of her hand, desperately trying to hide it behind her back.

"I...just remembered, I need to go finish dinner! You girls hurry and get dressed!" On that note, Chi-Chi darted out of the room and slammed the door shut."

The young girls could only stare in confusion as beads of sweat ran down their heads.

"What...was that all about?" asked Akane.

"No idea."

[A few minutes later]

The boys exited Gohan's room, Gohan clad back in his school garb and Ranma sporting a green tracksuit.

"Man, I hope my clothes get dry soon cause this really ain't my style," Ranma groaned.

"I'll say. You look more like a gym teacher than a martial artist," came the giggling voice of Akane.

The boys looked ahead to see the Videl dressed in Chi-Chi's old fighting uniform and Akane dressed in a purple dress with an orange scarf.

While Ranma's face soured at Akane's comment, Gohan's face flushed a light red and his eyes widened at the sight of Videl.

'That's Mom's old outfit!' he recognized. 'It...really suits her.'

"Gohan? Why are you staring at me like that?" Videl asked raising an eyebrow.

The young saiyan's blush deepened as he quickly backpedaled. "I-I wasn't staring!"

 _"He totally was right?"_ Videl whispered

 _"No doubt,"_ Akane softly replied.

"I...was just thinking...it may be a while before your guys' clothes get dry...so uh...what should we do in the meantime?" Gohan asked.

"Well, I dunno about you guys, but I'm kinda hungry," said Ranma.

"Now that you mention it, so am I," Gohan added.

"Well then, you boys are in luck since Chi-Chi's in the kitchen, and she invited Ranma and Akane to stay and eat with us." Videl replied.

"Alright, perfect timing!"

"GYAACK!"

The four teenagers stumbled back as Goku once again appeared out of nowhere, startling everyone sans Gohan.

"Dad you're back!" said Gohan.

"Yup, and I'm not the only one."

"I'm here too!" said a small voice. Everyone looked down at Goku's leg to see what looked like a miniature Goku who proceeded to leap into Gohan's arms.

"Goten!" Gohan greeted.

"Hey Gohan!" Goten replied. "Hey bro, why's Videl dressed like Mom?" he asked.

The girl in question responded by playfully noogieing him with a giggle.

Gohan turned to Ranma and Akane and promptly introduced Goten who made himself comfy on his brother's shoulder.

"Ranma, Akane this is my little brother, Goten."

'He's adorable!' Akane thought with a bright smile.

"Man, I heard of kids takin' after their parents, but this kid looks EXACTLY like his old man," Ranma commented.

"Yeah...we get that a lot," Goku grinned.

As Gohan put him down, Akane knelt down to introduce herself at face level with him. Goten's face became a light shade of red as Akane looked straight at him and introduced herself.

"Hi, my name's Akane. The goof behind me is Ranma."

"Hi I'm Goten," he quickly introduced himself while bowing.

Videl raised an eyebrow at Goten's intro. "Goten, why are you bowing?"

"Mom said I should be more respectful when I'm talking to girls," Goten answered.

Akane giggled at Goten and placed an affectionate hand on his head. "You're so cute."

"How come you're not that respectful around me?" Videl asked crossing her arms in a playfully offended manner.

"Cause you're my big sister!" Goten grinned.

"Ehh...!"

Videl and Gohan both flashed red before Goku and Akane let out a pair of chuckles.

"Now that introductions are out of the way, let's get going. I think Chi-Chi's almost finished with dinner!"

Goku dashed off to the kitchen leaving the kids behind.

"Hey wait for us!" Gohan called. "Goten come on!"

"Right!"

The two brothers jetted off leaving Videl and the Nerima martial artists alone.

"And that, my friends is the power food has over the men in this family," Videl commented.

"They're not the only ones," added Akane.

Videl turned back to see that Ranma was already gone as well. No doubt chasing after the saiyans.

"Well, we better go too before there's nothing left," said Videl.

[Moments later]

The gang was back sitting in the living room, all the boys looking rather disappointed due to the fact that dinner wasn't quite finished yet.

"Aww man. I was hoping Chi-Chi would've been done by the time Goten and I got back," Goku whined. "I'm starving."

"Me too," added the brothers.

"Me three," chimed in Ranma.

"Well, Chi-Chi always cooks a lot, but since we're here," she said referring to herself, Ranma and Akane. "She's probably making more than usual."

"Makes sense." Akane noted.

"It's worth the wait though. Chi-Chi's an amazing cook." Videl assured.

"I believe you. Whatever she's making smells delicious!" Akane noted.

"I'll say," Ranma concurred. "I almost can't wait to try it out."

There was a brief pause in the air before Goten started to whine out loud. "Man I'm bored! Can't we go do something outside?"

"Isn't it still raining?" Gohan replied.

"Actually, it looks like that crazy storm blew over already," Goku answered. "I don't know about you kids, but I think I'll get in a quick training session before dinner."

"Oh Dad, can I go with ya!" Goten exclaimed.

"Sure son. Gohan, you wanna come with?" Goku offered.

"Thanks but, I think I'll pass this time Dad."

"If you say so."

"Can I come with you?"

Goku paused and turned back to see Ranma standing with a vaguely eager look on his face.

"Ranma, what are you doing?" asked Akane.

"I'm askin' to see if Gohan's old man will let me train with him," Ranma simply answered. "Since we got rained out, none of us got a chance to do any real training today, and since the storm's over now, I figure there's no time like the present."

'Also, I wanna see what techniques this guy has.' Ranma mentally added.

"Well, he has a point," Videl stated.

Akane was about to retort when Goku spoke up, cutting her off.

"Sure, I don't see why not," he answered.

"R-really?" Ranma asked.

"Actually...I think I may have a better idea. Why don't you and Goten have a sparring match," Goku suggested.

Any excitement that may have been building within Ranma quickly died down at Goku's proposal, while also being accompanied by confusion and disbelief.

"You...want me to fight the kid?" Ranma asked, a dry expression on his face. "No offense, but isn't that a little unfair?"

"Naw, it'll be fine," Goku assured. "Goten may be young, but you shouldn't underestimate him. Plus, I think Goten could benefit from having a different sparring partner than just us. So what do you say boys?"

"I'm game, but...Dad, are you sure about this? He doesn't look that strong," Goten pointed to Ranma.

The pigtailed boy paused before slowly turning to Goten a vein visible on his forehead.

"What'd you say?"

Akane could only let out a stifled laugh. "You heard him Ranma."

Ignoring Akane for the moment, Ranma dashed over to Goten and yelled, "Just whadaya mean by that, kid!?" he exclaimed.

"Well...I can tell that you're stronger than sis, but you don't look or feel anywhere close to my dad or my brother," Goten answered.

'Wait, what does he mean feel?' Akane noted.

The offended martial artist clenched his fist before exclaiming, "Alright fine! You wanna know how strong I really am? Bring it on kid!"

[A short moment later]

Everyone (sans Chi-Chi) stood right outside the mountain home, Ranma and Goten standing poised to battle.

Off to the side, Akane viewed the scene with a hint of doubt.

"Uh guys, are you sure this is safe?" Akane asked. "Ranma should know better than to fight for real against a child, but after what Goten said before, I'm worried he might actually hurt him."

"Goten will be fine," Goku assured. "Like I said, you shouldn't underestimate him because he's young."

"Even so, he's fighting someone twice his age, and Ranma can be...unpredictable at times." Akane added.

"Akane...believe me when I say that Goten is more than able to hold his own against Ranma," said Videl.

'Even Videl's saying that?' Akane thought. Still not convinced, Akane turned to Gohan who had a look of concern on his face.

"Gohan...do you really think your brother can handle Ranma?" she asked.

"...We'll see," Gohan replied. 'If anything...the one I'm worried about is Ranma,' he mentally added. 'He's stronger than a normal human, but Goten...well he'll find out soon enough.'

Ranma took a defensive stance while shooting Goten a harsh look of irritation. The young saiyan in question merely stood completely at ease. As Ranma continued to stare at Goten's completely neutral expression, his earlier anger steadily dissipated.

'What am I doin'? I can't fight a kid for real,' Ranma thought. 'Huh, this is what I get for havin' a short fuse I guess. Still, I do still wanna make this kid eat his words, and this WAS Goku's idea in the first place....'

His mind made up, Ranma mentally proclaimed his plan for the upcoming match. 'Alright then Saotome, don't hurt the kid. Just rough him up a bit and show him what you're made of.'

"You ready to go kid," said Ranma.

"Uh huh!" At Goten's response, the young boy finally took a defensive stance.

Acting as mediator, Gohan stepped forth raising his arm. "Ready guys?"

Both parties nodded.

"Begin!"

Ranma made the first move, dashing forward at Goten with his arm pulled back. 'Don't hurt the kid, just give him a chop in the head.'

Ranma thrust his arm forward to strike, but to the pigtailed fighter's surprise Goten blocked his attack nigh perfectly.

'Hmmm...'

Ranma followed up his chop with a punch to the side of Goten's head, but the small fighter was able to avoid it by swaying away. Ranma quickly hopped backwards, distancing himself from Goten.

"Heh, not bad kid, but don't think I'll keep going easy on ya," Ranma 'taunted'.

"Hey, could you stop fooling around?" Goten asked.

"Huh?"

"Fight for real," Goten pleaded. "This won't be any fun if you're not serious."

Ranma sighed. "Look kid. I get that you wanna play, but seriously if I try to figh you for real..."

"Ranma!" Gohan called cutting him off.

As both pairs of eyes turned to the older half saiyan, Gohan could only respond with, "Do as he says."

Ranma and Akane raised their eyes in surprise. He WANTED Ranma to hit Goten for real?

"Uhhh Gohan, I don't think that's a good idea!" Akane warned.

"You heard him. Both of you, go all out!" Goku encouraged.

'Why do they have so much faith in this kid?' Ranma wondered. 'Aww who cares,' he dismissed. 'At the very least, now I don't have to feel guilty when I pound him!'

"Alright, you heard what your bro and old man said..." Ranma started.

Dashing back at Goten, Ranma pulled his fist back before throwing a serious punch at the young saiyan. "Don't get mad at me for this!"

Goten braced himself for Ranma's attack. As the older boy's fist flew at him, Goten raised his hand and caught the blow while getting very slightly pushed back.

"He...caught it!?" Akane exclaimed.

'What the-!?'

"Okay, now it's my turn!" Goten cheerfully replied.

Keeping his grip firm on Ranma's hand, Goten pulled his opponent forward, throwing him off guard, and threw his own serious punch at Ranma nailing him in the cheek and blowing him back onto the ground.

"Ranma!" Akane yelled.

The pigtailed martial artist shook his head recovering from that last attack before turning his attention back to Goten.

"Wow. I take back what I said. You're stronger than I thought!" Goten praised. "Guess that means I can go all out too!" he cheered.

Ranma could only stare at the bouncing boy with a look of pure bewilderment on his face.

'What the hell...IS HAPPENING!?'

**_(A/N:_ ** **_So, Ranma may have wanted to spar with Goten following that little insult, but he may have gotten more than he bargained for after taking that first punch. Next time, Ranma and Goten's battle takes off and both sides of fighters and spectators will get a taste of what the other side is really made of, but who'll be more surprised?)_ **

 

 

 

 

 

 


	16. Ranma vs. Goten; What's This Incredible Power

** My Life's Stranger Than Yours **

_ Ranma vs. Goten; What Is This Incredible Power!? _

Akane stared wide eyed at the scene. Complying with Goku's request, Ranma had attacked Goten with a serious punch, but not only did he defend against it, his counter attack knocked Ranma down...hard.

'What in the world-!?' Akane thought. 'Ranma just got taken down...by a little kid?'

"What...what just happened!?" she exclaimed.

"Looks like Goten got in the first hit," Gohan replied.

"Yeah, but something tells me Ranma may have still been holding back with that last attack there," commented Goku.

"Wha-!? How are they not-!?

"Akane," Videl placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Videl?"

"Believe me, I was just as surprised as you when I first saw Goten fight, but if you thought that one punch was shocking, then you'd better strap yourself in, because you haven't seen anything yet."

Akane looked at Videl with an expression of disbelief. "Believe it or not, this isn't the first time I've seen Ranma get beat by a kid before, except last time Ranma had lost all his strength and become extremely weak."

Videl paused and looked at Akane increduously. "Excuse me?"

"It's a long story. My point is, no little boy should be able to do that to Ranma so easily!"

As Ranma got to his feet, he rubbed the sore spot where Goten had punched him.

'What the hell happened?' he thought. 'Why does my face hurt so much? That kid couldn't have done that...could he?'

"Hey, are we still fighting?" Goten asked.

Ranma narrowed his eyes as he clenched fist tight, his hand shaking.

"Lucky shot..." Ranma muttered. "I held back a little cause your a brat...but this time, I ain't pullin ANYTHING!"

Ranma sprinted towards Goten and fired off another punch that the miniscule saiyan simply sidestepped. Ranma followed up with another punch which Goten deflected.

"Not this time! Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken!"

Ranma fired off punch after punch at Goten at inhuman speeds. To both Ranma and Akane's surprise, Goten was defending from them fairly easily.

'How is Goten/this kid blocking all that/this!?'

With each punch Goten blocked, Ranma steadily got more and more irritated, his eyes narrowing all the while. Stepping forward, Ranma attempted to try overwhelming Goten with pure pressure. Without realising it, his strategy appeared to be working as his attack speed began gradually increasing and Goten started to fall back.

"I've had...ENOUGH!"

With that frustrated yell Ranma pulled back and fired his own 'lucky shot' that nailed Goten in the face and forced him back a few inches.

"How'd ya like that!?" panted a smug faced Ranma.

"Ranma, don't gloat you jerk!" Akane yelled from the sidelines. "You just beat up a little boy!"

As Ranma's breathing began to slow, Akane's words began to sink in and Ranma's expression changed to one of frantic panic.

'Eep! Oh crap she's right! What've I done!?'

A guilt ridden Ranma slowly started approaching Goten who was shaking his head from Ranma's last attack.

"H-hey...you alright little guy?" asked a genuinely concerned Ranma.

"Yeah, I'm fine!" replied a surprisingly spry Goten.

"Oh, phew, that's a relief," Ranma sighed. The pigtailed fighter then did a double take as he glanced at Goten and realized what he'd just said meant.

'Wait, a second...he IS fine! Like...totally fine!' Ranma noted.

'Ranma's attack barely even phased him!' Akane mentally added.

"Hey Ranma, if you don't get serious, I think you're gonna regret it!" advised Goku.

'What?'

Ranma turned to Goku in surprise then back at Goten. He still didn't get why Goku was so adamant about him fighting Goten seriously, although after going that last round with him, he was beginning to see why.

"Alright then, this time for real!" Ranma proclaimed.

Leaping into the air, Ranma struck with a flying drop kick which Goten dodged by jumping. Using the momentum from his previous attack, Ranma bounded off the ground and leapt after Goten, firing off another punch at Goten.

The young boy avoided Ranma's attack by hovering and allowing himself to roll backwards in midair. As Ranma's attack whiffed and flew past Goten, the small saiyan countered by charging up his power and rocketing himself at Ranma. Unprepared to react, Ranma took the full force of Goten's skull crashing into his midsection.

Falling out of the sky, Ranma quickly fixed himself in midair and managed to land on his feet. Once he touched ground however, he hugged himself and fell to his knee with a strained grunt.

'Damn...what is this kid!?' Ranma thought. As Ranma tried to plan his next move, his attention was turned upwards by a still airborne Goten.

'Wait...he can fly!? Just like Videl and Gohan!?' Ranma noted. "So that's it..." he muttered under his breath.

'This kid can use ki too, and from the looks of it, he's pretty darn good at it.' Ranma thought. 'Well if that's the case, then I guess it's fair for me to do the same,' he smirked.

"Hey kid, you gonna hang up there all day, or are you gonna come back down here and fight!?" Ranma taunted.

A determined Goten flashed an excited but serious grin. "Okay, here I come!"

Goten let his energy flare before he rocketed himself downwards in a veritable freefall. The others watching expected Ranma to try and dodge, but to their surprise, he stood his ground and took a defensive stance with his hands pulled back.

"What's Ranma doing?" asked Videl.

"Looks like he's gearing for some kind of counter attack," noted Goku.

Akane watched the scene with a shred of worry evident on her features. 'Why's Ranma using that attack!?' she thought. 'He's just a kid...but then again...he's been outfighting Ranma this whole match so maybe...I don't know what to think anymore!'

'I probably shouldn't be using a move like this on a little kid, but judging from what's been going on thus far, he probably won't be too hurt from it. If he does however, then I apologize in advance. For now though, I'm gonna hit this kid with everything I got!' Ranma internally monologued.

Ranma held his ground as Goten quickly approached. As the young saiyan's descent steadily picked up speed, Goku and Gohan noticed that Ranma's energy was increasing rapidly.

'Ranma's energy is increasing?' they thought. 'I could feel he was stronger than most other Earthlings, but I didn't think he had this much power in reserve,' thought Goku.

'I wonder what he's preparing to do,' added Gohan.

Time seemed to slow as Goten nearly headbutted Ranma yet again. This time however, Ranma was prepared to strike back. Once Goten was barely a few inches away from Ranma, the pigtailed fighter steeled himself, and quickly thrust his arms forward shouting "Moko TAKABISHA!"

A bright yellow flash of light erupted from Ranma's hand and enveloped the both of them. In the next instance, the light's intensity flared up before resulting in an explosion that blasted Goten away causing him to hit the ground.

"Goten!" yelled Gohan.

"What...what was that!?" Videl exclaimed.

"Whoa! I didn't know Ranma could use an energy attack," noted a surprised Goku.

Videl let out a small inaudible gasp as she turned to Goku. 'No way...Ranma can do that too? What about Ryoga then? If they fight each other so often does that mean he can as well?'

After picturing Ryoga firing off an energy wave, Videl shook her head. She'd worry about that later. For now, she just wanted to focus on the battle currently taking place between Goten and Ranma.

Akane took notice of everyone's reactions to the last string of events and made a few mental notes. 'Despite the initial surprise from Ranma's last attack, they don't look too concerned about Goten's well being,' Akane noted. 'Do they really think he's alright after that attack, or are they just careless?'

While Goten picked himself up off the ground, Ranma panted as he lowered his smoking hands. "Heh, sorry I had to do that to ya kid, but if it makes ya feel any better, I only use that move on really strong opponents," Ranma taunted.

"Really?" came a surprisingly upbeat response.

Ranma raised an eyebrow as, despite some damage to his outfit, and a few minor indications that he'd taken some damage, Goten looked to be largely unharmed.

'No...freaking...WAY!' Ranma internally yelled.

"He's...alright..." said Akane.

"That's it Son, now show him what you can do Goten," Goku quietly stated.

"Man, I didn't think you'd use an attack like that!" Goten said dusting himself off. "But now it's my turn!"

Ranma paused. "Wait...your turn?"

Goten cupped his hands together and pulled them back.

"Kaaa...mee..."

To the Nerima fighters' surprise, the space between Goten's hands began to illuminate as a small ball of blue light formed.

'I...don't believe this!' thought Ranma.

Akane couldn't even comment as all she could muster was a string of surprised gasps.

"Haaaa...meee..."

The light from Goten's hands began to shine brighter and brighter at the last two syllables before the light all but engulfed his hands in a brilliant blue glow.

"HAAAAAA!"

Goten thrust his hands forward releasing a blue stream of energy right at a stunned frozen Ranma.

"Ranma look out!" Akane shouted.

Making the only play he could think of, Ranma jumped up high to avoid the blast. To his surprise, Goten appeared out of seemingly nowhere poised to strike.

"Hyyyyyyaaaagh!"

Raising his hands, Goten brought both fists down hard on Ranma's head laucnhing him back to the ground. This time however, Ranma couldn't recover and he hit the ground, face first with a hard  _THUD_!

"Ranma!" Akane exclaimed rushing to his side.

"I think that may be enough for now. Hey Goten!" Goku called.

As Goten rushed over to his father, Gohan and Videl went to go check on their defeated friend.

"Man...that fight was more intense than I thought," said Gohan.

"I'll say. Who knew Ranma could use the same kind of moves you guys can?" Videl replied.

"I was surprised when he told me he was familiar with energy, but I didn't think he actually had his own finishing move to boot too," said Gohan.

The couple paused as they witnessed Akane kneel down beside Ranma.

"Ranma...are you alright?" Akane asked.

Ranma slowly but surely began to pick himself off the ground, and judging from the look on his face, he probably wasn't alright.

"Do I look alright?" Ranma replied.

Akane narrowed her eyes. "Well excuse me for worrying," she snapped. "After all, you took a pretty harsh beating from Goten just now."

_STAB!_

Ranma flinched as Akane's words hit home.

"Yeah...go ahead and laugh why don't ya?" Ranma growled. "I just got my ass kicked by a seven year old!"

Akane paused for a few brief seconds before letting out a light snicker that quickly turned into a small giggle.

'I didn't think too hard about it until just now but he's right...Ranma just lost a fight to a seven year old...and he was being serious!'

"Whatcha laughin' at Akane!?" Ranma yelled.

"Oh nothing," Akane innocently replied.

A vein popped on Ranma's forehead as he scrambled back to his feet. He was about to retort, but was cut off by Videl.

"So Ranma...great match there," she said giving a thumbs up.

"What, are you gonna laugh at me too?" Ranma asked crossing his arms.

"Why would we do that?" Gohan interjected. "You actually did a lot better in that fight than I expected."

Ranma's eye twitched as he processed what Gohan had just said.

"What's THAT supposed to mean!" Ranma yelled.

Even Akane had to do a double take to make sure she heard that right. She'd been so busy taking in Ranma's 'humbling' experience, that she almost forgot about the impossible truth that lay before her.

"That actually reminds me," she interjected. "How is Goten that strong? Having skills at his age is one thing, but no seven year old should have his kind of raw power."

'Sure, seeing the novelty of Ranma losing to a kid is great and all, but honestly, no little boy should be able to come close to Ranma's strength like that.'

Gohan began to sweat a little. He was so caught up in the battle, that he'd forgotten to think of an excuse for Goten's insane power. Thankfully, Videl stepped in and gave an answer for him.

"Practice, sparring, and plenty of milk."

"Like Hell!" Ranma and Akane both yelled.

Though Videl couldn't help but chuckle, the questioning came to an end by the timely arrival of Chi-Chi who stepped out of the house with a couple of welcomed announcements.

"Hey girls, Ranma, your clothes are dry, and all of you, hurry and get cleaned up and changed, cause dinner's ready too!"

"Alright!" Goku and Goten exclaimed.

"Finally!" Gohan sighed. 'Perfect timing Mom.'

As the saiyans strolled off, Videl motioned for Ranma and Akane to follow them. "Come on you guys, let's go before those three take everything."

The pair followed after Videl, but a single thought crossed both their minds. 'We are NOT done talking about this!'

[A few moments later]

"Whooooaaa!"

Ranma and Akane stared wide eyed at the veritable smorgasbord that Chi-Chi had prepared. Everything from meat to buns to vegetables and everything in between was present.

"Chi-Chi, I think you've outdone yourself," complimented Goku.

Chi-Chi crossed her arms with a satisfied grin on her face. "Well we have guests tonight. With the way you and the boys eat, I couldn't just let you three take most of the food yourselves, so I made  _extra_ sure there'd be plenty for everyone."

"Uh Ms. Chi-Chi, with all due respect, don't you think this is a bit much?" said Akane.

"Nonsense. I've cooked bigger meals for smaller occassions before. This is nothing," Chi-Chi replied. "But that's enough chit-chat, dig in everyone."

"Alright!"

The trio of saiyans wasted no time in grabbing plates and filling them to capacity before subsequently scarfing down food at crazy speed. Gohan being the more well mannered one, at a slower more controlled pace, but still insanely fast.

Ranma and Akane both paused as they witnessed the pure spectacle that was saiyan consumption of food.

'What...what...even IS this!?' Akane questioned, her eye twitching.

To her surprise, she glanced over to see Videl eating rather nonchalantly in response to the saiyans' savagery.

'How is she not even phased by this!?'

Though initially just as shocked as Akane, Ranma shrugged it off and began to help himself to the food on the table.

'Hmph. Might as well get what I can.' he thought filling up his plate. After taking his first bite, Ranma also began to stuff his face at a faster than average pace...for him at least.

"Ranma, can you at least try to show some manners?" Akane scolded.

"Lay off would ya. I'm not in the mood," Ranma replied through chewing.

Akane was about to retort, but she quickly realized why Ranma was eating so aggressively. 'He's probably still upset about his fight with Goten,' she thought.

With a sigh of surrender, Akane grabbed her own plate, filled it with food and began eating with the others.

[A few moments later]

Ranma was getting to work on his third filing of food with Akane on her second.

"Ms. Chi-Chi, everything here is so good!" Akane complimented.

"Glad you two are enjoying yourselves," said a prideful Chi-Chi.

"Never thought I'd say this, but I think you're an even better cook than Kasumi," said Ranma.

Thanks...I think. But who's Kasumi?" asked Chi-Chi.

"My big sister."

"You have a sister?" asked Goku

"Two actually."

"Akane's the youngest of three sisters," Videl chimed in.

"Really?" Chi-Chi beamed.

"Yeah. Kasumi's the oldest and the resident chef of the house." 'At least unitl Auntie Saotome started living with us,' Akane mentally added.

"I've had Kasumi's cooking before and she really is an exquisite cook," said Videl. "Probably the nicest and most gentle person I've ever met too, and she's real pretty to boot."

"Ohh, she sounds like she'll make some guy a very lucky husband," Chi-Chi grinned.

"Yeah. Unlike some other girl I know who can't cook a decent meal to save her life," commented Ranma.

_SNAP!_

Akane's chopsticks snapped in half as she twitched and clenched her fist tightly.

"Sorry...my chopsticks broke...can I have another pair?" Akane strained through grit teeth.

Everyone at the table sweatdropped as they could sense a certain amount of tension eminating from their guests.

[A few more moments later]

Akane stared in astonishment as Ranma and the Saiyans each placed their now empty dishes on top of an already gargantuan pile of dishes before they each went for what had to be their final serving, judging from the amount of food left. She knew Ranma had a fairly big appetite, as evidenced by his 4 empty bowls, but Gohan and his family (sans Chi-Chi) ate nearly 3 times as much as Ranma in about the same amount of time.

'I don't think I've seen anyone eat that much since Ranma went up against that French guy with the freakishly huge mouth.'

Chi-Chi, with an impressive display of balance, picked up two large stacks of dishes and stepped out of the room and into the kitchen. As she placed the dishes into the sink, she was quickly joined by Videl who had her own stack.

"Hey Chi-Chi, you need a hand there?" the young girl offered.

"Much appreciated," Chi-Chi sighed.

Akane stared at the guys before turning towards the kitchen and darting after Chi-Chi and Videl. "I'll help too!"

A couple of minutes later, the girls had gotten all of the dishes into the sink, but before Chi-Chi could get started in cleaning them, the boys strolled in with the last of their dishes.

"So boys, how was it?" said Chi-Chi.

"Amazing as always," said Goku.

"I'll say," added Gohan and Goten.

"That had to have been on of the best meals I've had in a long while!" Ranma complimented.

"Oh you flatterer," giggled Chi-Chi."

"Thanks for dinner Ms. Chi-Chi, but I think it's about time for Ranma and I to get home," Akane bowed.

"Not yet..." Ranma paused. Turning to Goten, Ranma pointed a finger and declared, "I wanna rematch with you kid!"

Recalling Ranma's potshot at her cooking earlier, Akane decided to take the opportunity to pay him back for it.

"Oh is someone still upset because a seven year old boy kicked his butt earlier?" Akane taunted.

Ranma's eye twitched as he clenched his fist tight. His expression then changing into a twisted grin, he retorted, "Ya know what...I'm not gonna get mad about that. How could I after having great food from a really nice lady? Instead of some toxic slop from an uncute girl who looks worse than the trash she cooks."

_CLANG!_

The saiyans flinched as they watched a frying pan collide with Ranma's face, knocking him down.

"You wanna run that by me again?" Akane sneered, a pot in her hand.

Rubbing the sore spot on his head, Ranma shot back, "You heard me! You cook like crap and look even worse!"

_CLANK!_

Akane struck at Ranma with the pot, but Ranma quickly grabbed the pan she threw at him and parried her attack. The two struggled against each other until Chi-Chi stepped in between them, wielding a rolling pin.

"Alright you two, break it up!" she exclaimed.

"Don't look at me, she started it!" accused Ranma

"No I didn't, you insensitive jackass!" Akane shot back.

"I'd rather be a jackass than a sexless, talentless, shrew like you!"

"RANMAAA!"

_THWAM!_

With a fierce uppercut, Akane launched Ranma through the roof, out of the house, and into the forest.

Everyone in the room froze following Akane's attack, the saiyans all taking a collective step backwards.

'I knew Akane was an intense girl...but not this intense,' thought Gohan, a bead of sweat rolling down his head.

"Hey uh...Goten, I think we'd better go get Ranma back," said Goku.

"Okay."

"I...think I'll call Grandpa and see if he can come fix the roof," added Gohan.

On that note, the saiyans darted out of the room, all three of them shaking.

"Never thought I'd see the day, but I think your friend has an even shorter temper than your Mom Gohan," commented Goku.

"Hehe, and I thought Videl already fit that bill," Gohan chuckled.

[Back in the kitchen]

As the boys disappeared, Akane finally began to calm down following a string of deep breaths.

"Think...you went a little overboard there Akane," Videl commented.

"You heard what he said right!? He totally had that coming," Akane snapped back.

Placing her hands on her hips, Chi-Chi chimed in, "That may be true, but I still think punting him through the roof and  _messing up my kitchen_  was way out of line young lady!" putting emphasis on the kitchen part.

Akane let out a sigh. She and Ranma fought on a nigh consistent basis, and though not all of their bouts end with Ranma going skyward, she knew that Chi-Chi had a point.

"In any case, until Goku gets back with Ranma, Akane, you can help me with the dishes. Do that, and we'll call it even for the hole in my roof." Chi-Chi ordered.

"Yes ma'am."

"I'll help too Chi-Chi!" Videl interjected.

"Oh I appreciate the thought Videl, but this is Akane's debt, you shouldn't-"

"Chi-Chi," Videl cut her off. "There's a much bigger than normal workload here, trust me, even with Akane's help you'll need the extra set of hands. Besides, I've done this song and dance before and I've got nothing better to do."

After taking a short pause, Chi-Chi gave the girls a warm smile. "Well if you insist." She then tossed them a pair of aprons. "Well you know the old saying. Roll up your sleeves and let's get to work."

All three women immediately got to work on the large stack of dishes, with Videl doing the washing, Akane drying, and Chi-Chi stacking them in place. After a short while, of nigh silent work, Videl broke the silence.

"Akane, do you and Ranma always fight like that? I've seen you two hurl insults before, but that was kind of new," Videl asked.

Akane flinched but didn't answer. That silence however, was all the answer Videl and Chi-Chi needed.

Chi-Chi sighed. "You kids. If you and Ranma both don't clean up your acts, neither one of you will ever get married."

Akane and Videl both froze, the former dropping the dish she was holding.

"H-how'd you know Ranma and I were engaged!?" Akane squealed.

Now it was Chi-Chi's turn to freeze.

"...YOU TWO ARE ENGAGED!?" Chi-Chi shrieked back.

While Videl couldn't resist letting out a grin at Chi-Chi's intense reaction, Akane couldn't help but curse herself after letting that bit of info slip out, cause judging from Chi-Chi's reaction and the expression currently adorning her face, that little fact might've been best kept secret.

'Me and my big mouth.'

**_(A/N:_ ** **_Ranma finally got a taste of what a Saiyan can do and Videl got an even better grasp of what Ranma's really made of. On top of that, Gohan and his family got a sneak peak into Ranma and Akane's general routine and may learn a bit more when everyone's favorite [or least favorite, depending on who you ask] anime housewife starts pressing Akane for all the juicy details she's got. Stay tuned!)_ **

 


	17. Revelations and Rematches; Ranma vs. Goten Round 2

** "My Life's Stranger Than Yours" **

 

_ Revelations and Rematches; Ranma vs. Goten Round 2 _

Following Akane's revelation and Chi-Chi's over the top reaction, the three women sat at the kitchen table while Akane gave Chi-Chi the abridged version of her engagement with Ranma, explaining how it was something their fathers had arranged.

"Well, that's the gist of it," said Akane.

Chi-Chi mulled over Akane's story with a deep look of contemplation on her face. "I can't believe it."

"I know. It's crazy!"

Chi-Chi quickly whipped around to the girls and exclaimed. "Sixteen years old and already engaged! Videl are you really going to let a younger girl beat you like this!?"

"Chi-Chi!!" Videl shrieked

"Wait, are you and Gohan...?"

Videl quickly cut Akane off before she finished. "No, Gohan and I are not getting married!" she said sternly.

"Not yet at least," Chi-Chi winked. "But back on topic, Akane, when's _your_ wedding?"

Akane crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. "I have no idea, and whenever it is, it WON'T be with Ranma. I guarantee it."

"What makes you say that?" Chi-Chi asked raising an eyebrow.

"Cause there's no way I'm marrying an arrogant, insensitive jerk like HIM!!" Akane exclaimed!

"Now what's with that attitude?" Chi-Chi sharply asked. "You two made a promise right? It's your duty to follow through on it."

'Uhh...Chi-Chi, just because Goku made a promise to marry you doesn't mean it works that way for everyone else,' Videl internally sweatdropped.

"We didn't promise anything," Akane refuted. "Like I said, our fathers arranged it, and personally, I'd like the chance to pick my own husband...if I even ever decide to get married at all."

"Okay, fair enough," Chi-Chi nodded matter of factly. "But let me ask you this, what makes you so sure you won't pick Ranma anway?" Chi-Chi added. "I admit that boy's already raised a red flag or two, but nothing seems to be a deal breaker...at least not yet, and nobody's perfect, right."

'Just look at my husband for example,' Chi-Chi silently added.

Placing her hands on Akane's shoulders Chi-Chi gave her a few extra words of encouragement. "I'm sure that whatever issues the two of you may have, you'll be able to work through them, right?"

Akane released herself from Chi-Chi's affectionate gesture with a look on her face that said otherwise.

'I'll bet she wouldn't be singing that tune if she knew Ranma had two other fiancees, but this conversation's been awkward enough. There's no WAY I'm letting that slip out!' Akane internally declared.

As Chi-Chi and Akane finally ended their little tangent, Videl chose that moment to interject. "Okay...not that all this marriage talk hasn't been fun and all, but don't you think we oughta get back to the dishes? They're not gonna wash themselves you know, and there's dozens to get through."

The remaining women turned to each other then back to Videl before nodding.

"Well, you heard her," said Chi-Chi. "Let's get to work girls!"

"Okay!"

[Meanwhile]

In the skies of the Mt. Paouzu, Goku and Goten could be seen scanning the forests.

"Can ya see him yet Goten?" asked Goku.

"Not yet. I can't sense him either." Goten replied.

"Huh...maybe we'll have a bit more luck at ground level. Let's head down Son."

"Okay."

"Let's split up Goten. If you find him, raise your power and I'll come to you," Goku instructed.

"Alright."

Once the two had touched ground, they sped off in opposite directions.

"Hey Ranma, where are ya!?" Goten called. 'Weird, I still can't sense his energy either,' he thought.

After minutes of searching, Goten came up short unable to locate Ranma.

"Man, how far did that girl hit him?" Goten thought aloud.

As Goten continued his search, he soon found himself at a lake.

"He's not here is he?"

Goten's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of splashing water. Turning toward the sound, Goten could make out what seemed to be a girl with red hair who looked like she was wet, with a red cloth draped over her neck.

"Hmmm...maybe she's seen Ranma."

Scampering over to the red-haired girl, Goten called out, "Hey miss!?"

When he didn't get a response from her, he called again. "Excuse me!"

Having heard him this time, the mysterious redhead peered behind to spot the young boy. "Huh, look who it is."

As she turned to face the approaching boy, the young saiyan quickly skidded to a halt, his face a deep shade of red.

"Glad to see ya again kid. I was worried I'd have to go through the woods again to get back to your place."

Goten could only respond with a series of flustered gasps.

"Where's your old man and brother? Did they come lookin' for me too?"

Goten continued to mutter incoherently as the girl raised a confused eyebrow.

"What's your problem kid? What are you babbling about?"

"Uhhh...uhhhh..." Goten managed to point a finger at her chest, prompting her to look down.

Finally putting two and two together and figuring out what made Goten 'short circuit, she realized that she'd yet to put her shirt back on after wringing it out. Luckily, the sleeves of her shirt that was haphazardly thrown over her back covered the tips of her chest, keeping Goten from getting a full view, but still exposing enough skin to give the young boy an eyeful.

"OH! Sorry about that!"

Turning around, she quickly slipped her still damp shirt on and buttoned it up before turning back to face a still flustered Goten.

"Well, now that the show's over, why don't we head back to your place?"

"Uhhh...actually Miss, I can't go home yet until I find my brother's friend." Goten replied.

The girl raised an eyebrow at Goten before it hit her. 'I forgot, he doesn't know about my curse.'

Placing a hand on her chin, the redhead asked, "That friend wouldn't happened to have been a boy with black hair in a pigtail, would it?"

"Yeah!" Goten perked up. "Have you seen him!?"

"Maaaaybe," she answered in a singsong voice.

'Oh this is perfect!' she thought.

"How about this. I'll tell ya where he is...if you can beat me!"

Goten was taken slightly aback. "Uhhh...what?"

"You heard me kid. Let's go a round and if you win, I'll show you where your friend went." she replied.

"Are...are you sure?," Goten hesitated.

"What's wrong kid? Scared of losing to a girl?" the redhead raised a smug eyebrow. "Don't worry, I'll go easy on ya."

Goten remained still for a brief moment thinking on what the best course of action would be. He really wanted to find Ranma, but didn't want to fight the girl due to fear of hurting her (something that a couple of accidents while sparring with Videl made him pretty weary of).

Goten thought it over for a few more seconds before finally giving his answer.

"Okay, let's go!" he said with a playfully confident grin.

The pigtailed girl grinned as both she and Goten took defensive stances.

'Alright. I underestimated the kid last time, but not this time. I'll blitz him with my increased speed and end this in a flash,' the redhead thought.

The two combatants stood still for a brief moment as a melancholy wind blew by. Once the wind died down, the redhaired girl made the first move. Darting at Goten, she threw a wickedly speedy punch at Goten that the young saiyan narrowly avoided.

The pigtailed fighter followed her attack with a low sweep kick that Goten simply hopped over. Anticipating his dodge, the redhaired girl quickly held herself off the ground with a single hand and spun into a dual side kick attack (A/N: Think Chun-Li's Spinning Bird Kick, but on the ground) launching the small boy aside.

Goten however, was quick to recover and prepared himself for the girl's next attack. Unfortunately he was caught off guard by the girl's speed as she closed the gap between them in just a couple of seconds. As Goten let out a surprised yelp, the redhead girl simply flicked Goten in the forehead.

"Hey!" Goten exclaimed.

Front flipping over Goten's head, the girl called out, "Catch me if ya can kid!" and darted into the forest.

"Get back here!" shouted an annoyed looking Goten.

As the pigtailed girl zipped away from Goten, she turned back and was surprised to see that he was keeping pace with her.

'He can keep up with me even in my girl form!? This is BS!'

The girl decided to shift gears and try and get out of Goten's line of sight. Leaping into the air, she bounded off of a nearby tree and launched herself in the opposite direction. Goten skidded to a halt and turned back to see the girl repeat this process again, but this time poised to attack with a flying kick.

Goten ducked under the girl's attack only to see her come back around again with the same kick attack, but much faster this time. This continued for a a few seconds until all that could be seen was a red blur darting between the trees and an orange and blue dot in the middle was avoiding them. Before long, the red blur seemed to dissappear, much to Goten's confusion.

Unbeknownst to him, the girl had zipped up the tallest tree she could find in the area and was perched on a branch with plenty of leaves to conceal her, watching Goten from a bird's eye view.

'A straight up brawl against that kid's gonna get me nowhere, so why not think like a kid and do a little hide-and-seek?' she mused.

"As soon as he drops his guard, I'll attack him from above and end this in one shot," she whispered.

Goten kept his guard up scanning the area with his eyes. Still, despite his lack of experience in comparison to the others, Goten had enough experince to feel that something was still off. Placing his hands at his sides, keeping them balled into fists, Goten closed his eyes and remained still amongst the trees.

The Pigtailed girl kept a constant watch on Goten. Though he'd dropped his stance, she could tell that he was still on guard. What she didn't know was why he wasn't moving. The wind had once again picked up as Goten remained motionless. Suddenly, the wind stopped and there seemed to be no sound at all.

The redhead barely had time to raise an eyebrow in confusion before she felt a sharp pain in the pit of her stomach. As the pain fully began to register, the redhaired girl looked directly in front of her to see Goten with a satisfied grin on his face, and his tiny fist buried in her gut. Her whole body shuddered and quivered as she slowly clutched her midsection and curled into a ball, slipping off the branch centimeter by centimeter. Before she slipped off completely however, a single thought crossed her mind.

'Damn...kid...beat me again...!'

Finally, the inevitable happened and the girl fell out of the tree, holding her stomach tightly. As she prepared to brace herself for impact with the ground (or rather try to), she soon felt a tugging at the back of her shirt. Turning around, she saw Goten just as chipper as ever, gently floating her down.

"That was close. Are you alright?" Goten asked as he let her go.

"Fine," the girl answered, dusting herself off. 'Except for my pride.'

The pair was interrupted by what sounded like clapping. "Not bad you guys," commented a familiar male voice. In the next instance, Goku warped right in between the two, startling the redhead and making her stumble back.

"Dad!" exclaimed Goten.

"Hey Son. I came back to see if you'd found Ranma yet when I saw you two running through the forest. Figured I'd wait and see how the fight ended. Although, what were you guys fighting about anyway?" Goku asked

"That girl said she knew where Ranma was and wouldn't tell me unless I beat her," Goten answered.

Goku raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Whadaya mean she'd tell you where he is? You already found him," said Goku.

Now it was Goten's turn to be confused. "Wait, what?"

"Goku, he doesn't know about that yet," said the redhaired girl.

"Oh yeah! Goten wasn't there when you showed us," Goku realized.

"Showed you what? What are you guys talking about?" asked Goten.

The girl sighed before turning back to Goten. "Believe it or not kid, I _am_ Ranma," she finally revealed.

"What are you talking about? You're a girl and Ranma's a boy, and his hair's black," exclaimed Goten.

"Long story short kid, I turn into a girl whenever I get wet with cold water," Ranma explained.

Goten could only give Ranma a look of disbelief and confusion before Goku placed a hand behind his head.

"Come on. Let's head back home and we'll show you what we mean," said Goku. "Besides, I'm sure the others are waiting for us."

Ranma clung onto Goku's back as he and Goten ascended into the sky and made off for home. They could've used Goku's Instant Transmission, but Goku was adamant in not wanting to scare the girls again, so he opted not to this time.

As Ranma rode along with Goku, her thoughts never shifting from her two bouts with Goten. She's suffered her share of humiliating defeats before, but none could even compare to the amount of embarrassment that came from getting beaten by a little kid...twice. That also begged the question, If a little boy could be _this_ strong, how strong did that make Gohan, and for that matter, how strong could Goku be? The question remained on her mind as the three of them finally arrived back at the mountain home.

[Meanwhile, some time earlier]

Though the task was long and arduous, the girls finally got all the dishes cleaned and were taking a much deserved rest at the kitchen table.

"Finally, we're done," Videl stated wiping her forehead.

"Geeze...how do those guys eat so much?" Akane groaned.

"It's...hereditary dear. The boys get it from their father," Chi-Chi said half jokingly.

"Well...I can't really blame them. Your cooking was delicious!" Akane complimented.

"Thank you, I do my best."

"Although, and I mean no offense, but I have to say, I still think I prefer Kasumi's cooking," Akane quickly added.

"None taken."

Videl decided to add her two cents to the conversation. "Personally, I still think she's a notch or two below you. Now Kasumi and Nodoka together on the other hand...that may be a different story."

"Who's Nodoka?" asked Chi-Chi.

"Ranma's mother. She moved in not too long ago and helps out around the house. Like Videl said, when she AND Kasumi are cooking together, dinner's always extraordinary."

As she thought back to Kasumi and Nodoka's various dishes and let out a longing sigh. "I wish I could cook like that."

"Wait, so when Ranma said before that you couldn't cook..." Videl began.

Akane quickly cut her off. "Just cause he was...kind of right doesn't mean he can just insult me like that! Besides, I'm getting better!...sort of...I think...."

"If you're so adamant about learning how to cook, why not just ask your sister or Ranma's mother to help you?" asked Videl.

"I did, a few times in fact," Akane replied. "Let's...just say they didn't go well. Still I managed to make good food a few times...at least..."

As Akane trailed off, disappointment evident in her voice, Chi-Chi lightly tapped her shoulder.

"You know, if you want to learn to cook, I could probably help you," she said.

"......Really!?" Akane perked up.

"Of course. I've shown Videl a thing or two about how to navigate the kitchen. I don't mind taking in another 'student'," said Chi-Chi.

"Well..." Videl bashfully giggled. "I'm no gourmet chef, but I can at least cook for myself, and make a decent meal for two." she proudly proclaimed.

Before Akane could give her answer, the front door could be heard opening.

"Oh, it looks like the guys are back," Chi-Chi beamed.

"Hey uh Chi-Chi, we need some hot water!" Goku called.

With a sigh, Chi-Chi grabbed a nearby tea kettle, which luckily still had some water inside and left to meet with the guys. "Excuse me a moment."

As Chi-Chi went to greet them, Akane stayed behind deep in thought. Truthfully, she wanted to accept Chi-Chi's offer instantly, but was understandably hesitant due to all her previous failed cooking lessons. Her thoughts were stirred however by an empathetic Videl.

"Akane, I say go for it. Chi-Chi's a really gifted cook. I don't know what may have happened with you in the past, but I can say from experience that if anyone would be able to teach you how to cook, it's her," she assured.

Akane remained silent giving the offer a brief extra moment of thought before her expression changed to one of determination. As she was about to respond to Videl, the two girls flinched at the sound of a surprised shriek.

Zipping out of the kitchen, the two girls dashed into the living room, and came across the scene of Goten on the floor staring wide eyed at a wet, male Ranma.

"What happened?" they asked.

"My curse was just a bit too much for the kid to handle," said Ranma. "Almost damn near had a heart attack."

"B-but how did you do that!? Are you like a wizard or something!?" Goten exclaimed.

"I ain't no magician, but there is magic involved. Either way, it's a lousy trick."

"Okay, okay, that's enough excitement for one night, wouldn't you say?" interjected Chi-Chi. "Goten, you should start getting ready for bed."

"Okay." Goten dashed upstairs, and while he ran, he couldn't help but think, 'I gotta tell Trunks about this!'

"I think I'll turn in too," Goku said following after Goten.

Once Goku and Goten disappeared, Chi-Chi turned to her three visitors and added, "On that note, I think it's time for you kids to start heading off for home."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Videl agreed.

"One sec. Just let me dry off first!" Ranma said darting to the bathroom.

As soon as Ranma was out of earshot, Akane lightly pulled Chi-Chi aside.

"Ms. Chi-Chi?"

"Yes?"

"Well...I've given it some thought...and I accept your offer." Akane proclaimed.

Chi-Chi paused for a second before her expression lit up. "Really!?"

Akane nodded. "I figured I've got nothing to lose so why not just go for it? Besides, any chance to make Ranma eat his words is worth taking!"

"Not the word's I'd have used, but I like your enthusiasm. Just stick with me and I'll make you into the kind of cook a good wife should be!" Chi-Chi declared.

Akane's enthusiasm briefly halted at that last statement, but nevertheless, she was grateful to Chi-Chi for accepting. "I'm...looking forward to it," she replied.

"Lookin' forward to what?"

The girls turned to see Ranma return, a towel in his hand.

"Oh...just the next time we come and visit...whenever that is," Akane replied.

"Oh..."

'Hmph...well then I guess that makes both of us,' thought Ranma. A scene of him overpowering Goten's Kamehameha with his Prideful Tiger Blast played over in Ranma's mind.

'You're not gonna tell him?' Videl whispered.

Akane nodded. 'No, I want to see the look on his face once he finds out he can never insult my cooking again,' she whispered back.

A scene of an apron clad Akane denying a begging Ranma more servings of food played in her head as a mischievous grin plastered it's way onto her face.

[A few moments later]

As the sun began to set at Mt. Paozu, an unlikely trio could be seen outside the doors of a familiar mountain home. Ranma, Akane, and Videl were all being sent off by Gohan, Goku and Chi-Chi.

"Today may not have gone exactly as planned, but it was fun to have you guys around," said Gohan. "Still, I'm sorry we didn't really get a chance to train today," he added turning to Videl.

"Forget about it Gohan. This just means I'll have to come back again soon," she said with a wink. "At the very least, today helped me realize just what I have to aim for," she added.

"That's the spirit Videl," said Goku. "And Ranma?"

"Yeah?"

"I can tell from you're fight with Goten that you have a lot of potential." he praised. "Keep training and someday, you can become a real force to be reckoned with."

Ranma was slightly taken aback by Goku's compliment. "Uh...thanks."

'Still, lotta good that potential did me when fightin' the kid,' he inwardly snapped.

"Akane..." Chi-Chi whispered.

"Hmm?"

"Whenever you want to get started, just let Videl know, and she'll pass it on to me, okay?"

"Sure thing."

After all was said and done, the aircraft sprung to life and ascended into the air with Gohan, Goku, and Chi-Chi all waving their goodbyes. As the plane disappeared into the sky, Gohan couldn't help but wonder what his mother was talking to Akane about.

[In the plane]

As soon as the three were a distance away from Gohan's house, Videl let out a low sigh. She didn't want to admit it in front of Gohan, but the fact that they hadn't made much progress training really bugged her, especially after their earlier encounter with Ryoga. The appoined time was drawing closer and the situation was starting to feel more or less hopeless. Still, Videl was never the type to give up (for better or worse). She just wished she had an idea of what her next course of action should be. Her contemplative look however, did not go unnoticed by Akane.

[Much later]

The gang finally arrived at the Tendo Dojo. The goodbyes were short and sweet this time as Videl hastily dropped off Ranma and Akane before blasting off into the sky again.

As Akane waved her friend off, her thoughts shifted to her expression on the plane. She could tell that Videl was still concerned over Ryoga, and after watching Ranma go all out against Goten, it seems that she finally fully understood what she was up against. Videl needed some serious help if she still insisted on fighting him. Though she initially pushed the thought aside earlier, Akane had a feeling there may be no more avoiding it. If Videl insisted on fighting Ryoga, then she needed to pay a visit to the Cat Cafe.

**_(A/N: Dang it, I wanted to get a chapter (as well as a Chapter of Shattered Academia) out BEFORE September ended. I also wanted to try making a reference to the song 'Wake Me Up When September Ends' in this A/N but I guess that ain't happening either. So, Ranma does get his rematch with Goten...sort of, and Goten gets...let's just call it a show (NGL, I thought about having F. Ranma completely exposed, but since Goten's only 7-8 years old here, I figured it probably wouldn't have as much impact on him for me to write a comedic scene with as opposed to say, if he were his DBS age...but then again, there was that scene in DB Fusions where he and Kid Trunks see Towa). As for the girls, it looks like they're both going to get some unexpected teachings. Akane from Chi-Chi and Videl from...well, you already know who it is, but stay tuned to see it unfold. Next time, we return to Nerima to see some familiar faces.)_ **


	18. The End of a Crazy Day; Prelude to a New Encounter

** My Life's Stranger Than Yours **

**_(A/N: First off, let me just say...HOLY CRAP! This story's already a year old!? How the heck did that happen!? I guess time flies when you go through one hiatus after another [Insert Hunter x Hunter joke here]. Secondly, I just wanna say thanks to everyone who's stuck around thus far and apologize to my Shattered Academia fans for not updating that story in a long while (I prefer to do update one story then go to the other, before doing the same one again. Obviously that's not happening anymore, but I'll try to get the next chapter back on track. Just sort of hit a roadblock. With all that said. Let's not waste time and get right to it.)_ **

_ The End of One Crazy Day; Prelude to New Encounters _

As Ranma and Akane entered, they were greeted by none other than Kasumi, with everyone else, sans Nabiki assembled in the living room.

"Oh, you guys are back."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," snarked a visibly irritated Ranma.

"Ranma..." Nodoka chimed in with a warning tone.

Flinching at his mother's nigh silent warning, Ranma let out a sigh and left the room. "If ya need me, I'll be in the dojo."

As the girls watched Ranma storm off, they were joined by Nabiki who was viewing the scene from the staircase. "Huh, what's eating him this time?"

"Ohhh nothing. He just lost a match, and is still pretty sore about it," Akane answered.

"Yup, that'd do it all right," Nabiki deadpanned.

"Akane, if you don't mind my asking, who exactly was Ranma's match against?" Soun interjected.

Akane was about to reply but had a brief moment of pause.

'Wait...should I really tell them about Goten?' Akane wondered. Initially, she didn't see any harm in giving them the details of the fight. On the other hand, she could easily visualize what their families could do with that information.

_[Akane's Imagination]_

_Soun and Genma were towering over a defensive Ranma bellowing about how no heir to their glorious martial arts sanctuary. Meanwhile, Nodoka was weeping in the corner, her sword unsheathed, muttering something about how her only son had his pride and manliness stripped away. Nabiki on the other hand was surrounded by numerous students from their school all lining up for details on Ranma's most pathetic loss._

_[Reality]_

Akane shuddered as her fantasy ended. She didn't know how long she'd been out daydreaming, but she recalled her father's question and quickly blurted out, in faux excitement, "Oh it was nothing TOOOO bad. Ya see we were sparring, then Ryoga showed up, and he and Videl double teamed him...it was actually kinda funny! HAHAHAHAHA...!"

Both families sweatdropped at Akane's mostly uncharacteristic outburst, though they had no issues with the story she gave them...at least everyone except the eagle-eyed middle sister.

"Anyways, think I'm gonna go take a bath and turn in. Ranma and I already ate so you don't have to worry about dinner for us. G' night!"

While Akane dashed up the stairs to wind down the night, Nabiki viewed her little sister's retreating frame with skepticism in her eyes.

'Okay, I don't know what that was all about, but it's clear she's hiding something,' Nabiki thought ascending the staircase.

As the two girls left, Kasumi and Nodoka resumed relaxing in the living room while Soun and Genma huddled up over their shogi board.

"Well...do you think the boy found out anything?" Genma asked.

"Well, we won't know until we ask him now won't we?" Replied Soun. "Still, Akane's story about him losing a match intrigues me. Shall we inquire with him about that as well?"

"Yes, but first things first Tendo."

The two partners in crime shot each other a nod of agreement before slinking out of the living room to the dojo.

[The Dojo]

As soon as Ranma entered the dojo, he threw his shirt off and immediately began punching and kicking the air, frustration behind every strike and grunt. Ranma continued to 'shadow-box' for an unknown stretch of time until his body had a thin layer of sweat running down it. Dashing into a handsprint, Ranma flipped forward three times before landing upside down on his hands.

As Ranma remained still in his handstand, he kept thinking back to his fight with Goten. There's no way he should've been taken for a ride like that by a little kid. It didn't matter who his family was or what kind of special training he may have had, no small boy should be able to match him to the degree he did.

'This sucks...' Ranma thought. 'How in the hell could I lose to an 8 year old brat!?'

Flipping back onto his feet, the bout continued to replay in Ranma's head, and the more he thought about it, the more baffled he became. Above all, two unanswered questions lingered in Ranma's mind: First, where did Goten's unnatural physical strength come from, because no amount of training should make _a child_ that strong. Second, what did Goten's abilities say about Goku and Gohan's true power?

It's obvious that one or both of them taught Goten what he knew, and if their teachings made him that strong, they themselves have GOT to be nothing short of master level. Ranma had gotten a small taste of what Gohan was made of before, and while he was obviously powerful, he didn't think he could be THAT strong. After fighting Goten however, he had a feeling that...

"Ranma mah boy, we need to have a word with you!"

A startled Ranma twitched and leapt into a defensive stance as he was harshly stirred from his internal musings by his father and Mr. Saotome barging into the dojo.

"Geeze Pops, ya don't have to shout!" Ranma exclaimed. "What do you want anyway?"

"Don't play dumb boy!" Genma shot back. "Tell us what you learned!"

Ranma raised a confused eyebrow. "Learned about what?"

"Ranma...don't tell us you forgot!!" fumed Genma.

"Forgot what?"

Both men crossed their arms in disappointment. Soun let out a calming sigh before he reminded Ranma of his 'secondary purpose'. "During your trip to your friend's home, you were supposed to learn everything you could about the Turtle Hermit so he could potentially defeat the evil master!"

Ranma's eyes lit up as he finally recalled that detail. "Oh yeah...sorry. Guess I did kinda forget about that."

"RRRRRRAAAAAAAANNNNNMAAAAAAA!!" Soun screeched.

"Eeeeeeek!!"

Ranma shrank back as Soun descended upon him with his demonic face.

"But I do remember learning one thing about him!!" Ranma quickly defended.

"Oh...?" said a now completely neutral Soun.

Ranma panted heavily, clutching his chest after Soun's startling outburst.

"Well Son, don't keep us in suspense. What did you learn?" asked Genma.

"Well, it ain't much, but you guys were on to somethin' after all. Remember how you told me Gohan had the same name as one of this turtle guy's students? Turns out our Gohan's old man was a student at the Turtle School when he was younger."

"You're right, that isn't much at all," said a dejected Genma.

"Still it is something, and a rather interesting something at that," added Soun. "What did you say your friend's father's name was?"

"It's Goku," Ranma simply replied.

"Goku...hmmmmm..."

The two older men paused in thought for a moment as they attempted to recognize the name. There was a small familiarity, but neither one of them could quite place it."

Ranma crossed his arms as he stared at the two men deep in thought. After a few minutes of complete silence and immobility, Ranma's patience reached it's limit.

"Well, if you two are done playing 20 Questions, I'm gonna go take a bath." Ranma stated rising to his feet.

Before he left, the duo finally came out of their contemplative 'trance' and quickly halted him.

"Wait Ranma!" Genma snapped.

Ranma paused and turn to face his father and Soun.

"The next time you go visit that friend of yours, you must learn more about the Turtle Hermit," Genma reminded him.

"Yeah, yeah, I got it," Ranma dismissed.

As Ranma exited, Soun and Genma turned to each other and began discussing amongst themselves.

"Well, what do you make of this Tendo?" asked Genma.

"It's as Ranma said, we were on to something with this. A boy who's father was once the Legendary Master's student who also shares the name of another, it's almost too convenient. All we can do now is hope Ranma actually remembers next time and wait for what he brings back next time." Soun replied.

"Then I guess it'll be a long wait."

**_THWOOOM!!_ **

The two were brought out of their discussion by the unmistakable sound of Akane's furious yell followed by Ranma crashing through the roof.

[A few moments earlier]

Akane sat submerged in the warm bath water, her kness hugged against her chest. She was trying to unwin after the eventful day she had, but considering what she was planning to do, it was hard not to be anxious.

'Okay...so I'll drop by the Cat Cafe after school tomorrow and talk to Cologne. The problem is, how am I supposed to convince her to train Videl?'

Cologne wouldn't listen to her unless it involved letting him go with Shampoo, and Akane was not about to let that fly. Then again...maybe Videl herself could convince her. She was an inspirational figure in the martial arts world...right? Akane sighed feeling at a loss of what to do when suddenly....

_Sliiide!_

The bathroom door slid open to reveal Ranma wearing nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist.

"Man I really gotta...GAH!"

The startled Saotome flinched as he lay eyes on Akane, submerged in the bathtub (blocking her uncovered form from his eyes) before freezing up in pure fear for he knew what was coming next.

"Uh...whups...!"

"RAAAAAAANMAAAAAAA!!"

**_THWACK!_ **

"Sooooooooryyyyyyy......!!"

[Present]

"Wait...didn't Ranma say he was going to take a bath?" Genma asked.

"Oh right...Akane said the same earlier. Guess this one's on us then."

[Later]

Akane sat on her bed in a familiar position of contemplation. Akane had no idea how she should play out her meeting with Cologne tomorrow. After a brief moment of thought, she made up her mind. Darting out of her room, she made her way to the nearest phone.

A few minutes later, Akane dialed the Cat Cafe and waited a brief moment before she could hear a familiar female voice on the other line.

_"Nihao. This is Nekohanten! How may I help you?"_

"Shampoo?"

_"Akane? What happen, you wreck kitchen again?" Shampoo teased._

"No, and I didn't call to order food. I need to speak with Cologne," Akane demanded.

_"Why you need see Great-Grandmother?" Shampoo asked._

"Let's just say...I need help and I think she's the best one who can." Akane replied.

_"Sorry, but even Great-Grandmother can no perform miracle and teach you to cook," Shampoo snarked._

"It has nothing to do with FOOD!" Akane yelled.

_"Oh...?" Shampoo paused for a moment. "Alright I go get Great-Grandmother, if you leave Ranma alone and let him take Shampoo out on date, yes?"_

Akane could only facepalm. "Okay, I get it. Sorry for calling." On that note, she hung up the phone and let out a defeated sigh.

Akane was about to head back to her room, but quickly stopped herself. Turning back to the phone, Akane stared at the keys before her expression tightned.

'I guess whatever happens from this point on is up to Videl herself.' Akane steeled herself before taking the phone in hand once again.

[Meanwhile]

The well known yellow aircraft finally touched down before Mr. Satan's manor and a disgruntled Videl capsulized the plane before entering. As she walked through the door, her eyes widened to the scene of the entryway being a total mess and a handful of servants were hard at work fixing the place back up.

"What...what happened!?"

_'Rarf!'_

"Bee?"

Videl followed the sound of barking to the rear where she could found Buu glancing upward at...something and Bee by his side barking furiously at that same thing.

"Buu?"

The big pink djinn turned to Videl and a gleeful smile grew onto his face.

"Satan's daughter is back!!"

Bee also welcomed Videl by playfully running around her legs.

"Glad to see you guys too." Videl grinned.

Getting back on track, Videl turned seriously to Buu and asked, "Buu...you wouldn't happen to know what wrecked the house would you?"

"Bee was playing with new friend!" Buu answered.

"New friend?"

"Mmhmm. Friend to weak to play with Buu so Bee play instead."

Bee responded by letting out a low threatening sounding growl. It didn't take Videl long to realize that their house was visited by some uninvited guests and the duo here must've chased them off, whether Buu realized it or not.

'It's a good thing Bee's such a good guard dog,' Videl thought rubbing the canine's head. 'Still, I wonder who'd even try to make an attempt at our house. Dad is still thought to be the strongest man on Earth so it'd have to be someone with either nerves of steel or absolutely no brains...maybe both.'

"Hey Buu, your new friend, what did he look like?" Videl asked.

"He wore some really weird clothes and spoke in a really funny voice!" Buu replied. Reaching behind him, Buu pulled out a long wooden stick. "But he real nice. He brought stick so Bee could play fetch!"

On that note, Buu chucked the stick across the yard and Bee instantly shot after it barking excitedly. Once he returned with the retrieved stick, he dropped it in front of Videl who, upon closer inspection recognized the stick as a wooden sword. None she knew fought with weapons, but she' been to enough dojos to know how common they were (one pretty recently in fact).

'Well, this rules out Ryoga at least sense he fights using that heavy umbrella, but this doesn't really narrow anything down either,' Videl internally lamented. Ultimately though, Videl opted to worry about this later. She'd had a pretty eventful day already and needed some time to relax.

That relaxation time however, would be delayed by the sound of her cell phone ringing. Heading back indoors, leaving Buu and Bee to their own, Videl picked up the phone as she made her way to her bedroom.

"Hello?"

_"Videl?"_

The black haired fighter's eye's widened at the sound of none other than Akane's voice on the other line. She hadn't expected her to call back again so soon.

"Akane? What's up, is there something wrong?" Videl asked.

_"No, nothing like that it's just..."_

Videl couldn't help but notice the hesitance in her voice. There was definitely something wrong.

 _"What would you say if I told you I know someone who could probably prepare you for your fight with Ryoga?"_ Akane asked.

Videl momentarily paused as Akane's question sank in. "I'd say...go on...." she replied, a contemplative look on her face.

_"What if I also told you that this person is someone who's not really the 'helping' type and would most likely want something in return for them teaching you...if you coud even convince them to train you at all?"_

Videl's expression changed to a cocky smirk. "I'd say...I'm interested."

 _"Really?"_ asked a surprised Akane.

"Yeah. They can name whatever price they want. I'm willing to take the heat from my Dad if I have to," Videl said firmly.

 _"This person isn't someone who's easily swayed by money,"_ Akane warned.

"Well,  whatever the 'payment' may be, I'm willing to at least hear them out," Videl replied.

Akane let out a breath that sounded like she'd been holding in for a while. _"That's great. We can go there tomorrow after school. We'll meet up at my place then I'll take you there. But one more thing...you may wanna brace yourself."_

"Akane, I know my reaction to Ranma's curse was rather extreme, but after that, I don't think there's anything I'm not prepared for anymore." Videl told her matter of factly.

_"If you say so. Then I'll see you tomorrow?"_

"For sure."

With that, Videl ended the call and after a pregnant pause, she fell backwards onto her bed and let herself bounce before laying down, unmoving.

'So...I'm going to meet a new teacher tomorrow huh?' Vdel thought. 'I won't lie, I'm kind of excited. But at the same time...I'm really kind of nervous. The way Akane described this guy, he sounds like some kind of creep, and what does she want me to prepare myself for?'

Videl rolled over, so she was now laying flat on her stomach, deep in thought about what to expect tomorrow. 'Well, like I said, it wouldn't hurt to at least check this person out, cause if they actually can help me stand a fighting chance against that Ryoga guy, then I guess I've got nothing else to lose."

Unbeknownst to her, her newest friend was in a similar position both physically and mentally as Akane, clad in her sleepwear, laid down on her bed staring up at the ceiling.

Both girls from their respective homes also had one similar simultaneous thought running through their heads.

"I hope I don't regret this tomorrow."

**_(A/N: This was my first time writing Buu and Shampoo. I wasn't 100% on how to write their speech so I kept their appearances brief. Don't know when or if Buu will appear again (or how I'll bring Mr. Satan in cause honestly, while he may be necessary for some future events I have planned, I am not really a fan of him. Don't hate him [anymore], but he's someone I don't like seeing on screen. He'll have to show up sooner or later since this story's Videl centric, but when and how that'll happen is up in the air), but we'll almost definitely be seeing Shampoo again real soon cause next Chapter, we return to Nerima. Also, a little subplot I may have set up in the beginning is finally going to make some headway. How much headway is anyone's guess, but it'll definitely start going places. Where will it go? Stay tuned to find out._ **

**_PS: HAPPY THANKSGIVING! [I didn't plan for this to happen, but we take those!]_ **

****

 


	19. Dealings in the Cat Cafe

** My Life’s Stranger Than Yours **

**_(A/N: I don't really have anything witty to say this time other than FINALLY! This story hit 100 Favs! My personal goal has been reached! Like I said in the first Chapter, I've been wanting to do a Ranma/Dragon Ball crossover since my humble beginnings on FF, and the fact that the feedback to this one has been so positive is really flattering. Keep enjoying the story and I'll keep writing it. With that said, let's get to it)_ **

_Return to Nerima; Dealings in the Cat Cafe_

In the skies of Satan City, if one looked, a familiar masked man could be seen jetting through the clouds, approaching Orange Star High. Once The Great Saiyaman made his landing and changed back into his street clothes, Gohan zipped through the roof entrance and dashed down the stairs. Once Gohan made his way down the steps and into the school, he ran into none other than Videl who was chatting with Erasa.

"Hey!" Gohan called out to them.

"Oh! Good morning Gohan," the two girls greeted him.

"I'll leave you two alone for now," Erasa said dismissing herself. "See you both in class."

Once the pair was alone, they began to chat about future plans as they headed towards their lockers.

"So Videl," Gohan began. "You still have a decent amount of time before your match with that Ryoga guy, so if you want, you can come train at my placce again...and this time it'll be just the two of us."

Though her expression briefly became one of discord, Videl flashed him a warm smile. "Thanks for the offer Gohan, but Akane offered the same thing first, so for the time being, I think I'll train with her.."

Small traces of surprise could be found on Gohan's face. He hadn't expected her to turn down his offer to train together.

"Really? Well maybe I can join you again and see if I can help?" he offered.

"Thanks Gohan, but after all the crap that happened yesterday, I think I'd like a nice casual training session with someone on my own level." said Videl.

"Oh, I get it. You're taking it easy, but still want to try and make some progress, right?" Gohan replied.

"Yeah, pretty much," Videl confirmed. "And before you ask, Ranma's not invited either, so don't feel too bad about it."

"Oh no worries, I completely understand where your coming from. Heck, back when Dad and I were training for Cell, he made us take a few days of rest in between the week before the big fight," Gohan replied.

"That reminds me, you still haven't told me the full story about that," Videl noted.

"Uhhhh...well...you-"

"Gohan, I swear, if you say, 'Well you never asked,' I'm going to get mad," Videl warned.

Before Gohan could reply the warning bell went off with a loud  _RRRRRRIIIIIIING!_

"Saved by the bell. See ya in class!" Gohan called darting off.

Videl stood still for a moment, a mixed look of concern and confliction on her face. While she hadn't lied to Gohan, she did conveniently leave out one pretty major detail, and she couldn't help but feel a shred of guilt at hiding something from him, especially after all the trouble she gave him for having secrets.

'I wonder if I should tell Gohan that it won't just be me and Akane...' Videl thought. Before she could fully mull it over, the bell rang again, signaling the start of the school day.

'No time to dwell on that now, gotta get to class!' With a huff, Videl zoomed down the hallway to her first period class.

[Meanwhile, later that same day]

It had been a rather uneventful day at Furinkan High, mostly due to the absence of a certain kendoist, and believe it or not, Ranma was actually upset that Kuno HADN'T shown up today.

"Jeeze, the ONE time I want that moron to come after me, and he's absent for the day," Female Ranma lamented.

Raising an eyebrow, Akane asked, "Ranma, why do want to see Kuno so bad anyway?"

A vein popped on her forehead "Let's just say...I was  _really_ lookin' forward to havin' somethin' to take my frustration out on!" Ranma replied clenching her fist.

Akane sweatdropped. 'Looks like he's still upset about his match with Goten.'

"Ya know, speaking of 'frustration', I forgot to ask, what were you yellin' about last night?" Ranma asked.

A worried look sprang on Akane's face. 'That's right, I forgot I haven't told Ranma about my plan to take Videl to see Cologne.'

"Y-you should already know you pervert!" Akane snapped back in an attempt to dissolve the question.

Ranma flinhed, remembering the 'incident' from last night before letting out an exasperated sigh. "Ahh forget it. I'm already transformed so I think I'll try and score some free ice-cream at the shop."

"Hmph, fine," Akane dismissed walking off.

"Hmph, tomboy." Ranma muttered. Turning the opposite direction, Ranma leapt onto the lowest rooftop she could find and bounded off to the ice-cream parlor.

'Maybe I'll stop by Ucchan's place first,' Ranma thought.

Once Ranma was out of eyeshot, Akane began sprinting as fast as she could for home. She couldn't help but feel a shred of guilt at almost starting a fight for no reason, but she really needed Ranma out of the way, especially if Videl was coming straight to the dojo after school. With Ranma off looking for...'comfort food', this was the perfect chance. All she had to do now was get home in time to meet Videl.

[Elsewhere]

A certain blue-eyed, black haired girl, could be seen gliding through the clear Nerima skies. As soon as school let out, Videl had said her goodbyes to Gohan and their friends and instantly jetted over to Nerima. She was honestly quite excited to meet...whoever Akane was going to introduce her to, but she still couldn't shake a feeling of uneasiness at the whole thing. Partially from guilt at not telling Gohan about this, the other part from not knowing what to expect from Akane.

As Videl slowly made her way over to the Tendo Dojo, she couldn't help but take in the view of the city from above. Since she was flying herself, as opposed to in the plane, she was really able to enjoy the scenery from this high up.

'Maybe once we're done training, Akane can give me a tour of the city,' Videl thought. While she picked up the pace, she quickly paused in midair when she spied a familiar character.

"Is that...?"

A smile rising on her face, Videl called out her familiar friend's name as she hastily descended.

"AKANE!"

The Nerima native paused at the sound of her name and hastily turned around scanning her surroundings for the one who called her.

"Up here!"

Raising her view, Akane smiled as Videl descended before her, touching ground.

"Videl. When'd you make it to town?" Akane greeted.

"Not too long ago," Videl replied.

"Regardless, this makes things much easier. I was going to wait for you at home, but since you're here, we can just head straight to the Nekohanten."

"The Neko-what?" Videl raised an eyebrow.

"Just...follow me."

On that note, Akane jogged away in the direction of the Cat Cafe, Videl in hot pursuit, still wondering just what to expect of this trip.

A short moment later, the two girls came across a place that, to Videl, looked like a restaurant.

"Well, this is the place," Akane proclaimed.

"Cat Cafe?" she read the sign on the door.

Videl turned to Akane who had a surprisingly serious expression on her face.

'Part of me really thinks this is bad idea, but if anyone can help Videl prepare for a fight with Ryoga, it's Cologne.'

Akane let out a breath before stepping through the curtains, Videl right behind her. Videl looked around and from the looks of it, it seemed like a normal enough restaura-...

"Shampoo, you've finally returned!"

Videl shrieked as she was glomped on by a boy with long, black, hair clad in white robes.

"Get...off of me you creep!"

Videl harshly kicked the strange boy off of her, forcibly knocking him onto the floor. Once he recovered, the boy turned back to Videl.

"Mousse, put your glasses on," Akane ordered.

Mousse pulled out his swirly glasses and set his focus back on Videl and Akane. "Two Akane Tendoes!?"

The two girls paused at Mousse's statement and gave each other a pair of strained looks.

"We don't look alike, do we?" asked Videl.

"We may have a lot in common, but we don't LOOK the same," Akane replied.

"What's all the commotion out here."

The three teenagers turned to the counter to see a small, wrinkled, shriveled, creepy looking figure with the resembalance of a mummy, wielding a wooden-

_KATHONK!_

_(A/N: OW!)_

"Eeeeek!"

Videl instinctively took a step backwards and crossed her arms over her chest at the sight of the small elder.

"It's him again? With a wig!?" she shrieked.

"Actually...she's a woman," Akane corrected.

"Huh!?"

The elderly lady hopped off the counter onto a table close to the trio and began to introduce herself.

"Yes, I am. I assume you were mistaken me for that old perv Happosai, but I can assure you I am not him. My name is Cologne.

Videl let out a relieved sigh as the introductions continued.

"That's Mousse, who I hope I need not remind should be returning to work," Cologne said narrowing her eyes.

Adjusting his glasses, Mousse cleared his throat and retreated to the rear of the restaurant.

Once Mousse was gone, the two girls sat at the table Cologne was standing on and began their chat.

"I must say, I wasn't expecting this visit Ms. Tendo. I assume you're not here for the after school rush," Cologne began.

"Sadly, you're right," Akane replied.

"What's Son-in-Law gotten himself into this time, and am I to also assume this young lady is involved in some way?" she asked pointing her staff at Videl.

'Who's 'Son-in-law'?' Videl thought.

"Actually...this doesn't involve Ranma at all," Akane answered.

"Oh?"

'Wait, Ranma's related to this lady?' Videl thought. 'If they're related in some way, does that mean she's the one who trained Ranma? Is that why Akane brought me here?'

Akane noted the contemplative look on Videl's face and gave her a subtle signal that she'd explain later. Focusing her attention back to Cologne, Akane began explaining.

"I'll just cut to the chase. My friend here has a duel with Ryoga in a few...well...whenever he gets back to town, and we were hoping you could help her prepare for it."

There was a pregnant pause between the three women. Cologne took a good long look at Videl. seemingly inspecting her before hopping off the table in a dismissive manner.

"I cannot." she added.

"What? Why not?" Videl exclaimed.

"I haven't the faintest idea what grudge you have with Ryoga, but I can tell you now, any attempt to fight him would just be a waste of time, and quite possibly life threatening for you."

Videl sighed dejectedly. "I get it. I've heard the whole, 'You can't win' stuff from Ranma and Akane already, and I'll admit it; I KNOW I'm outmatched, but still. That blockhead trashed my father's dojo. I can't just let him go like that!" she said firmly.

"You're father's dojo eh?" Cologne hopped back onto the table and looked Videl straight in the eye. "Tell me girl, what is your name."

"It's Videl. Videl Satan."

Cologne's eyes widened. "Satan? As in Mr. Satan the so called 'World Martial Arts Champion'?"

"Uh-huh," Videl said with a prideful tone.

Following a small pause, in the next moment, Cologne burst out laughing, rolling all over the table she was standing on.

"What's so funny?" Videl asked, her eyebrow twitching.

"Apologies. I just find it hilarious that the child of that showboating, buffoon of a fighter would show herself on my doorstep." Cologne chuckled wiping away tears from her eyes.

It was at that point where Akane chose to intervene. "Now wait a second Cologne, you can't just trash talk Mr. Satan like that!"

"Considering his slanderous accusations towards true martial artists, I'd say I have every right to hurl a few insults back."

"Slanderous?"

Cologne let out a sigh. "Satan may be the World Martial Arts Champion of this current day and age, but his so called 'skills' don't hold a candle to the champions of yester-years. Numerous fighters with skills and power that would take most others most of their lives to learn and yet this buffoon has the audacity to write off decades of hard work and discipline as cheap sleight of hand? Despicable, truly despicable!"

Videl couldn't help but avoid eye contact with Cologne, as she knew exactly what she was referring to; her father's numerous claims of Goku and the other's Ki abilities as nothing more than just cheap tricks. After meeting Ranma and Ryoga, she figured there may have been others on earth that may have the same kinds of abilities, and while Gohan and the other Z-Fighters just sort of...disdainfully let it go, it wasn't too farfetched to think that others would be less than willing to just write off what was essentially some random guy putting down their hard work and effort.

"Videl...what's she talking about?"

Videl remained silent, ignoring Akane. Both pairs of eyes were on Videl, who'd been suspiciously quiet the whole time. For a moment, everything stayed silent until suddenly, Videl finally spoke up.

"Look Ms. Cologne, I get it. You don't like my father, and you have every right not to, heck my boyfriend's mom isn't a big fan of him either."

'Wait, Chi-Chi hates ?' thought Akane.

"The fact is though, I'm NOT my father, nor am I LIKE him...at least in regards to how I am as a martial artist. Is it really fair for you to turn your disdain for him, on me?" Videl said sternly.

Cologne lightly narrowed her eyes. "The sins of the father shall be visited upon the son, or in this case the daughter," her expression then softened. "But I suppose you do have a point, which brings me to my next question; why exactly  _should_ I train you anyway. Even if you are a more respectable martial artist than your father, I don't see why I should waste my time in trying to help you win a pointless battle."

Videl slammed her palm down against the table, meeting Cologne's skeptical expression with a confident smirk. "Name your price grandma. You agree to train me, and I'll be sure to make it worth your while."

Cologne countered with her own grin. "You've got moxie girl, I'll give you that, and while I do like the idea of having your buffoon of a father's money in my pockets, I'm afraid that mere monetary compensation isn't what I'm looking for."

Videl's earlier hype died down as she shot Cologne her own skeptical look. "Well then, what are you looking for?"

'Oh great,' thought an irritated Akane. 'Now she's gonna try and get Videl to convince Ranma to go with Shampoo, I just KNOW it!'

Akane's fist clenched while Videl and Cologne appeared to be at some sort of stalemate as neither one had said a word for a brief moment until Cologne finally spoke up, "Believe me girl, you wouldn't be able to deliver me what I truly want."

Videl's confident smirk soon returned, "Well what if I told you I was well acquainted with some of those 'yester-year' fighters?" Videl replied.

"Is that so?" asked a disbelieving Cologne. "Well if you're  _sooo_ well acquainted with them, why not have them train you instead?"

'That is a very good point actually,' thought Akane.

"Because most of them have given up fighting, and the ones that haven't..." Videl trailed off. "...Let's just say, I still have a ways to go before I can try training with them for real."

Cologne had a skeptical look as she mulled over Videl's words. It wasn't too farfetched to think that the previous generation of martial artists may have hung up their uniforms after all these years, but she still had her suspicions. Her thoughts however, were interrupted by the sound of a bell dinging, followed by a high-pitched female voice.

"Nihao! Great Grandmother, I back!"

Swaggering through the door was a young but curvy, purple-haired girl wearing an outfit that, to Videl, wouldn't look out of place in Chi-Chi's closet.

"Who is that?" asked Videl.

"Oh Shampoo! You've returned for real!" From out of seemingly nowhere, Mousse sprang out of the backroom and latched on to the nearest living thing he could, which in this case, was a potted plant far out to Shampoo's side.

Videl couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed watching the male Chinese Amazon snuggling up to a plant. Her embarrassment turned to shock when she saw a notably irritated Shampoo pour a cup of water on the boy and he seemed to shrink out of his clothes.

_QUACK!_

Her surprise grew as a white duck wearing a familiar pair of glasses popped it's head out of the recently discarded garments. Shampoo proceeded to pick the bird up and casually toss him out of the window.

"What...what just happened...?" asked a dumbfounded Videl.

"Long story short, Mousse has a Jusenkyo curse too, just like Ranma." Akane answered. "He turns into a duck."

Videl took a moment to let that information register as Shampoo dusted off her hands and came to rejoin the other girls.

"Now that stupid duck boy gone, can Shampoo finally learn what going on here?" Shampoo asked.

"Yes of course. First let's get introductions out of the way," Colonge cleared her throat. "Videl, this is my great-granddaughter Shampoo," Cologne introduced. "Who couldn't have come at a better time."

"What that mean?" asked Shampoo.

"It means I would like for you two to fight each other," Cologne answered.

There was a brief pause between the quartet before the three young girls let out a simultaneous, "Ehhhhhh!?"

"Great Grandmother, why Shampoo have to fight new girl?"

"Shampoo, when you arrived, you asked why Akane brought her friend here. To answer that question, Akane brought young Ms. Videl here in hopes that I would train her for an upcoming duel with Ryoga." Cologne began.

"Aiyaa! New girl fight with Ryoga? It take more than Great-Grandmother training to battle him." said Shampoo.

'Geeze, even this girl's saying the same thing?' thought an annoyed looking Videl.

"Regardless, Videl's managed to pique my interest, and I wish to assess her fighting skills with my own eyes, and I think you'd be the perfect opponent for her, which brings me to my proposition."

Cologne turned her focus back to Videl and fiercely aimed her staff at the girl. "If you can win a match against my Shampoo, then I will at least  _consider_  prepping you for your fight with Ryoga. If you can at least manage that much, then you may have potential worth training after all. We can iron out the details of 'payment' later."

While Videl didn't take too kindly at that small jab at her martial arts skills, she was determined to make this old lady eat her words, about her and her father (despite the truth they held).

"So all I gotta do is win? No problem," said a confident Videl.

"Shampoo not know exactly why she has to get involved in violent girl's mess, but Shampoo won't lose to new girl, no matter what!" the young amazon fired back.

The two girls glared at each other, visions of victory already filling both of their minds. Meanwhile, off to the side, Akane viewed the event unfolding with traces of regret adorning her features. 'I knew this was a bad idea.'

[A few moments later]

All four women found themselves in a rather well known vacant lot, Akane and Cologne viewing the impending battle from the sidelines as the two combatants dropped into fighting stances and stared each other down.

"Tell me Akane, do you think your friend stands a chance against Shampoo?" asked Cologne.

"Of course she does. I know how good Shampoo is, but Videl can definitely hold her own." A smug grin found itself onto Akane's face. "Who knows, she might just find some way to surprise you."

Cologne made sure to take special notice of that line. 'Wonder what that's supposed to mean...aww forget it. I doubt that girl is capable of anything too impressive.'

"Shampoo still no see why she need fight you, but Shampoo do need workout after delivery run."

Videl's eyes narrowed. "Don't think you can just write me off like that. Even if you do beat me, it's not gonna be that easy, but I don't intend to let that happen!"

"Hmph, we will see."

The two combatative girls flashed each other their own determined glares before Cologne pogoed over on her staff and gave the okay.

"You may now begin!"

As soon as the words left Cologne's mouth, the two girls darted at each other, victory flashing in both of their eyes.

**_(A/N: Evil cliffhanger is evil. I kinda wanted to do some more funny things with Mousse, but I decided to stick to what he's good at: mistaking anything with a tangible form for Shampoo, but don't worry, he'll show up again sooner or later. So yup, Videl has to show what she's made of, by going toe-to with Shampoo before Cologne will even bother to hear her out. Speaking of, it seems Cologne's intrigued by Videl's 'acquaintances' as well as the surprise Akane mentioned. Who'll win this battle, will Cologne agree to train Videl, these questions will be answered and many more will be formed, next time)_ **

**PS: Next chapter may be delayed on account of Super Smash Br-I MEAN WORK!**

 


	20. Videl vs. Shampoo

** My Life's Stranger Than Yours **

**_(A/N: HAPPY NEW YEAR! I'm back with the first new chapter of 2019, and what better way to kick off the new year than with the long awaited fight between Videl and Shampoo. No review response this time, let's just get straight to it.)_ **

_ Videl vs. Shampoo; Tales of the Z-Fighters _

As soon as Cologne gave the word, the two young girls each launched a fierce roundhouse kick at each other, their legs colliding hard. Following their initial attack, they both pulled away and fell back into their respective stances.

While Videl still looked as determined as ever, Shampoo had a more inquisitve look on her face. Shampoo kept her stern glare on Videl as the short haired girl followed up by throwing a hard right cross at the young Amazon. Shampoo deflected and countered Videl's attack by turning her body and spinning into an elbow strike that nailed Videl in the back of the head.

Videl stumbled forward attempting to recover, but Shampoo kept up the offense by throwing a palm strike into Videl's back launching her forward and onto the ground.

A disgruntled Videl rubbed the spot where Shampoo's attack had landed as she picked herself back up. 'Okay...I admit that wasn't bad.'

"Shampoo is willing to let new girl give up," the purple haired girl taunted.

"Hmph, not a chance," Videl replied turning back to face Shampoo. Taking a runner's position, much to the confusion of Shampoo and Cologne, Videl darted forward and launched herself at Shampoo intending to tackle her. Shampoo simply sidestepped Videl's attack, but the raven haired girl was prepared. Landing in a handstand, Videl twisted her body around and struck Shampoo with a spinning kick. Shampoo was briefly caught off guard but managed to block Videl's attack.

Using her arms, Videl vaulted and flipped over Shampoo where she attempted to attack with her own elbow strike which the bouncy Amazon effortlessly caught. Shampoo quickly counterattacked with a swift punch but Videl was able to catch her fist, locking the two girls into a stalemate.

"Shampoo no understand why Great-Grandmother so interested in new girl. So far, Shampoo  not impressed."

"I'm just warming up!" Videl snapped back.

Lifting her leg and pressing her foot against Shampoo's abdomen, Videl harshly kicked her away creating some distance between the two combatants. As Shampoo quickly regained her balance, Videl dashed forward and attacked with a roundhouse kick that Shampoo once again narrowly avoided.

As Videl struck with a follow-up kick from her opposite leg, Shampoo dodged by letting her body fall back and back-flipping away from Videl. Not willing to let Shampoo escape, with impressive speed, Videl zipped within striking range and showered Shampoo with a volley of punches, keeping the young Amazon on the deffensive.

As the two girls continued their bout, the two spectators began to voice their current opinions on the match at hand.

"Hmmmm..." Cologne hummed.

"What is it?" asked Akane.

"I'll admit this much, the girl certainly is a vastly more competent fighter than her bumbling father," the elder noted.

"See? I told you."

"Still, nothing I've seen thus far has convinced me that training her would be worth my time," Cologne added.

Akane held her tongue. She didn't want to admit it, but from how things were playing out now, Shampoo definitely seemed to have the edge. Still, she had yet to use her trump card. Akane could only clench her fist in anticipation.

Back in the fight, Videl was beginning to get irritated. No matter what attack she tried, Shampoo was able to dodge, block and/or counter her and it looked like she was hardly trying. Determined to break through Shampoo's guard, Videl lifted both her fists and struck with a powerful overhead attack, but Shampoo was once again able to block the attack, this time parrying her strike with her forearms and lightly knocking Videl back.

"An opening!"

Videl could hardly react as Shampoo closed the gap between them and fired off a fierce palm strike right in the raven-haired girl's face.

"Gaaaaah!"

As Videl held her pained cheek, Shampoo stood poised ready to unleash a string of blows.

"Now it Shampoo's turn to attack!" she said with a victorious grin.

Cartwheeling forward, Shampoo struck Videl with a back hand to the head which she raised her hand to defend against. Shampoo's attack was a feint however, and she actually struck Videl with a chop to the side of the torso. While Videl stumbled from her attack, Shampoo followed up with an uppercut to Videl's gut before finishing her combo with a sweeping leg kick, eliminating Videl's balance.

'Oh no!' Akane internally shrieked.

Videl was able to catch herself with her hands and regain her momentum, but Shampoo wasn't giving her a moment to breathe. As soon as Videl turned to face her opponent, she eyed Shampoo preparing to throw a potentially game ending fist at her. Despite regaining her composure, Videl was not in a favorable position to avoid Shampoo's attack...at least...not conventionally.

'Time for me to take control of this fight!'

With a cocky grin finding it's way to her face, Videl prepared to make her move. Shampoo finally fired off her attack at Videl, who made no effort to dodge it.

'Hmph. Well, I guess that's that,' Cologne mentally sighed.

Before Shampoo's fist struck Videl however, the short haired girl suddenly seemed to vanish from sight and Shampoo wound up striking the ground, creating small cracks in the earth beneath her.

"Eh...!?"

'What!?'

Before Shampoo or Cologne could fully process what had happened, Shampoo was knocked aside by a strong and harsh side kick to the side of the head.

"Aiyyee...!" Shampoo shrieked as she regained her composure.

"Sorry, but this fight isn't over yet!" she could hear Videl say.

Placing a hand where she got hit, Shampoo angrily responded to Videl's proclamation. "Hmph, new girl got lucky shot!" Turning to face her assailanit, Shampoo continued speaking. "Shampoo not know how new girl dodge attack, but she won't let...Aiyyaaaa!"

Shampoo let out a surprised shriek as she laid eyes on her opponent.

"What in...!?" Cologne had an expression of similar if not equal surprise on her face at the sight of Videl as well. Not only was the girl that Shampoo had previously been dominating looking none the worse for wear, she was also floating in midair!

"That's...!?" Cologne stammered.

Akane could only chuckle at the elder Amazon's loss for words. "See, I told you she had a few surprises in store!"

"How...how come New Girl floating!?" Shampoo exclaimed.

"Oh it's just a little technique I learned. Nothing too special," Videl answered, smugly placing her hands on her hips. "Then again, it's also something of a trump card, so I guess you could say it's a little special," Videl added raising her guard once again. "Now let's see how well you defend against THIS!"

Videl zoomed over to Shampoo, closing the gap nigh instantly, and striking with a flying side kick. The surprised young Amazon cartwheeled aside to avoid the attack but was struck from behind and knocked to the ground by Videl flying into Shampoo with a midair tackle before handsprinting off the purple haired girl's back and landing flawlessly back on the ground.

Shampoo quickly picked herself up, a look of extreme irritation on her face. "New girl may be able to fly, but that no mean she can win against Shampoo!" she declared.

"True, but if you wanna win this fight, you'll have to catch me first!" Videl challeneged. Making the classic, 'come at me motion' with her hand, Videl stood poised confident to take on Shampoo's next attack. Sprinting at Videl, Shampoo attacked with a quick jab that Videl simply sidestepped. Shampoo tried to follow up with a palm strike to the chest, but Videl simply levitated off the ground and flipped over Shampoo's head, launching and nailing another flying kick to her head.

Shampoo quickly recovered and darted after Videl throwing blow after blow at her, but the Ki-inclined girl only continued to sway, acrobat, and float away from Shampoo's onslaught.

Cologne continued watching the fight with a newly invigorated interest in Videl's abilities. 'That's bukujutsu, the 'Sky Dancing Technique'!'

Videl continued her aerial onsluaght on Shampoo, striking with a flurry of rapid kicks before quickly zipping away in midair and following up with a more powerful straight kick. Shampoo managed to defend from the first barrage, but when she tried to defend from Videl'

'To be able to use such an advanced technique so effortlessly...this girl may have more talent and skill than I initially thought, but...' Cologne narrowed her eyes. "...to learn that technique in the first place...she has to have trained with...!!"

Cologne's eyes snapped wide open as the face of a certain old man with shades and hair resembling a pair of wings flashed in her mind.

"Shampoo! Hold nothing back! Take that girl down at all costs!" Cologne shouted!

"Huh?" Videl could understand Cologne wanting her great-granddaughter to win, but the urgency she heard in her voice was a definite red flag.

A pleased sneer grew on Shampoo's face as she replied, "Of course!"

Shampoo then proceeded to reach into the chest area of her dress and pull out what looked to be a small stick. Shampoo held the stick in front of her face and with a flick off her finger, the stick expanded revealing it to be a metal fan.

"What is-Gyah!"

Videl was cut off by Shampoo tossing her fan at Videl, forcing her to duck under it.

"Hey! Watch the-GAH!"

Videl was once again cut off by the fan circling back around like a boomerang and nailing her in the back of the head, forcing her back to ground level. As Videl shook off the shock from Shampoo's last attack, the hardenened Amazon rushed at Videl with two metal fans in hand, slashing them at Videl.

"Wha-!"

Videl was able to back flip away from Shampoo's attack, but was kept on the evasive when Shampoo hurled both fans at Videl. Videl swiftly dodged the projectiles, watching them get stuck in the ground, but was barely given a moment to rest as Shampoo closed the gap between them and slashed at Videl with a curved sword. Videl was able to avoid a direct hit from the blade, but the front of her shirt had a wide gash in it.

"What the...where the hell did you get that!?" Videl demanded.

Shampoo ignored Videl's inquiry as she simply continued swinging her sword at the stunned, honorary Z-Fighter. Videl could only continuously avoid Shampoo's barrage. With her being so close to her with that sword, if she made a single wrong move, she'd be on the receiving end of a potentially lethal slash, so she couldn't even make an attempt to fly away.

"Who said...you could bring weapons...to this match anyway!?" Videl snapped.

"Amazon use any mean to obtain victory, especially in Anything-Goes-Martial Arts," Shampoo replied.

A bead of sweat ran down the side of Videl's head. 'I know Ranma brought that up before, but with a name like that, that's just begging for every rule in the book to get broken.'

"Wait a second Cologne!" Akane interjected. "I thought this was supposed to be a sparring match! Also, last I checked, the fight's still going on so your 'Kiss of Death' rule isn't in effect either!"

"True, this was intended to be just a simple sparring match, but that technique of your friend..." Cologne trailed off.

"What about it?" Akane asked.

Before Cologne could answer, the two of them paused at the sound of one of the two fighting girls letting out a loud pained scream.

"Videl!" Akane exclaimed.

Back in the fight, Videl had done a great job of avoiding Shampoo's sword...though the current condition of her outfit may suggest otherwise. Despite not getting cut herself, Videl's over and undershirts were both left shredded tatters due to a few too many close calls. Unfortuantely, fatigue also began to take it's toll, and Shampoo finally managed to get a hit on Videl's thigh with her sword. Videl was sick of playing defense, and she couldn't keep it up. If she wanted to win this thing, she had to make her move now.

As Videl retreated away from Shampoo's continued onslaught, she couldn't help but notice the beads of sweat rolling down Shampoo's face, as well as her expression. She was looking pretty winded herself, and judging from the look on her face, she was looking pretty irritated.

'Guess it's now or never,' Videl thought.

Taking a step backwards, Videl uncharacteristically stumbled, landing on her backside.

'An opening!' Shampoo thought. Taking the initiative, Shampoo darted to close the gap between them, her sword raised skyward.

"This the end Flying Girl!" Shampoo declared.

Videl shot her opponent a victorious grin. "Yup...for you!"

Raising both her legs, Videl caught the blade between her feet before using the strength in her arms to twist her body around and fling the sword out of Shampoo's grip and into a nearby fire hydrant with a sign on it that said, _'Please Do Not Fling Sharp Objects At This Hydrant'_

"Aiyaaa!"

'I had a feeling she'd leave herself open if she thought she had a definitive win over me. All I had to do was bait her,' Videl thought.

"Hmph, Shampoo no need sword to win, especially with cut in Flying Girl's leg," said Shampoo.

"This is nothing. I've taken worse than a single sword slash sister!" Videl shot back.

The two combatants stood poised ready to continue their fight. They hurriedly rushed at each other as fast as their tired bodies could until....

_CLANK!_

**_SPLOOOSSSH!_ **

The Hydrant with the sword in it finally gave out, spraying cold water onto all three girls, in the lot, Cologne pogoing away just in time to avoid the splash.

"Gyaaaa!" Akane shrieked.

"Ughh...why does it feel like I'm always getting wet lately, huh?" Videl thought aloud.

As she wrung her shirt out, she couldn't help but notice that Shampoo was surprisingly silent in all that mess. As she turned back to her opponent, she was stunned to find that she seemed to have disappeared. Expecting Shampoo to launch some kind of sneak attack in the confusion, Videl quickly raised her guard up until she heard a soft sound coming from behind her.

_"Meeeow."_

"Uhhh...Akane...am I imagining things, or did you just hear a cat?" asked a confused Videl.

Akane merely pointed and Videl's gaze followed until she was looking back at where Shampoo should've been, only this time, she looked down and gasped as she saw a very familiar looking Chinese outfit laying in a crumpled heap. The clothing started to rustle before a furry little head poked out from beneath the discarded cloth, revealing itself to be a small purple kitten. Recalling a similar incident from earlier, Videl finally put all the pieces together.

'Wait...don't tell me...!'

"Shampoo!?"

"Mrroooooww!"

"Her too!?" Videl exclaimed. "Geeze, how many people have this Jusenkyo curse thing anyway!?"

"Well...five off the top of my head, but you'd be better off asking Ranma, since there may be a few I'm just forgetting or he straight up hasn't told me about."

[Elsewhere]

A familiar boy clad in yellow let out a loud hearty sneeze which echoed across the mouth of the cave he was currently about to enter.

'Huh....wonder who's talking about me now?' he thought as a low growl steadily began to emenate from the cave.

[Back with the girls]

"Well, I guess that's one way of ending a fight," Cologne sighed as she pogoed over to the younger girls, a tea kettle in hand.

While Akane and Videl wrung their clothes out, Cologne poured the kettle's contents over the yowling kitten. From the ensuing cloud of steam, Shampoo emerged in human form...completely naked.

"Well...that's gotta be annoying," a lightly blushing Videl commented.

"Fly Girl have no idea," Shampoo replied grabbing her clothes.

"Regardless, I think it's fair we call this match a draw," said Cologne.

"Speaking of the match..." Videl interjected. "What the hell was the deal with the fans and sword!?" she exclaimed. "Wasn't this just supposed to be a sparring match?" Before Cologne could reply, Videl added, "You're not gonna say that was all 'to test my ability in critical situations' or something like that, are you?"

"No, but I will admit, you've shown yourself to be fairly competent in that kind of situation. As for your first question, I'll answer it with one of my own: Where exactly did you learn to use bukujutsu?"

"Boku what?"

"Great Grandmother means how can you fly," Shampoo clarified.

"Why do you need to know that?" Videl replied raising an eyebrow. "What does me being able to fly have to do with you two trying to kill me?"

"Apologies for the excessive force, but it was more or less a precaution, because that technique is an advanced yet signature teaching of an ancient, yet deadly martial arts academy: The Crane School!"

"Crane School? This is the first I've heard of it," Videl testified.

"Nevertheless, the Crane School is infamous amongst the world of serious martial artists for being the academy that birthed one of the world's most deadliest assassins. I figured if you had received their teachings in some form or another, it was best for Shampoo to not hold back," Cologne added.

"Hey Videl, do you think Gohan might know something about it?" asked Akane.

"Probably, but I know he didn't train with em' either," Videl replied.

As Cologne raised a curious eyebrow, Shampoo asked "Akane, why you and Flying Girl talk about rice?"

Akane snickered. "Has Gohan gotten sick of that joke yet, cause I feel like it happens to him a lot?"

Videl couldn't help but chuckle herself. "Not as much as you'd think, but it hasn't gotten old yet."

"What so funny now?" asked Shampoo.

"See, we weren't talking about food earlier, we were referring to my boyfriend. His _name_ is Gohan, and he's actually the one who taught me how to fly," Videl explained. "Like I already said, I've never heard of this 'Crane School', but if I remember right, Gohan's dad was a student of the Turtle School when he was younger."

Cologne's eyes snapped open in utter shock. "Did you say...the Turtle School!?" she asked, an inquisitive look on her face. 'Wait a second...Gohan...!"

"Satan Girl, you said your man's name was Gohan correct? It wouldn't happen to be 'Son' Gohan would it?" asked Cologne.

"Yeah but...how did you...know that?"

"It just so happens that Son Gohan is the name of one of the Turtle School's greatest students. Although from what I've gathered through the grapevine he's long since left this world. I don't think you're other half having the same is just some coincidence."

'Huh, I never knew that. Is that how Gohan got his name?' Videl thought.

"I also heard that when the Son Gohan of old passed on, he was survived by a grandson, so now I ask; Your Gohan, what is his father's name?" Cologne added.

"It's Goku," Akane answered.

As soon as the name had left Akane's mouth, Cologne let out a small snicker. Her snickering soon grew into a much more spirited grin before it evolved into a hearty, yet hysterical laugh.

"Aiyaaa, Great-Grandmother? What so funny?" asked a genuinely concerned looking Shampoo.

Ignoring her Granddaughter, Cologne focused her attention back to Videl. "Young lady?"

"Yes?"

"When you first arrived at the Nekohanten you told me you were well acquainted with some of history's greatest martial artists. Let's just say, I have reason to believe you now. Not only that, but you've also shown your own competence as a fighter. Though you still have a long ways to go before you can even hope to challenge Ryoga," she stated.

"Does that mean...!?"

"Yes, I will train you in preparation for your upcoming battle." Cologne simply stated.

"Alri-AH!" Videl in a burst of exitement threw herself into the air, but quickly landed and took a knee. Unfortunately the resulting sharp pain in her thigh reminded her of her body's less than favorable condition at the time.

"Although I think it's safe to say we should start tomorrow," stated Cologne.

"Fine by me," Videl replied.

"But, let me give you fair warning. The training you'll go through may just be some of the most harshest and grueling trials you've ever had to experience thus far. Every hardship you've faced up till now will look like Kindergarten in comparison. This is the only chance you'll have to change your mind, so I ask you, are you absolutely sure you wish to go through with this training?" Cologne challenged.

Videl stared Cologne dead in the eye, visions of some of her toughest experiences flashing back to her. From battles with criminals, to her battle with Spopovitch, to the whole Majin Buu debacle. It may have been a bit arrogant to think this, but Videl majorly doubted that anything Cologne could throw at her could top those (especially the one where she literally freaking DIES!).

Videl nodded before sternly saying, "I'm sure."

"Well then. Get that leg of yours patched up and get plenty of rest tonight, cause tomorrow after school, you may never be able to rest again! Who knows, by the time you're done, you might actually be level with my Shampoo." Cologne taunted with a grin.

The girl in question let out a dissatisfied grunt as she crossed her arms. "Next time we fight, Flying Girl tricks won't catch Shampoo off guard again," she declared.

"Next time we fight, I won't even have to fly to get a leg up on you!" Videl shot back.

"Oh, one more thing. We'll discuss the terms of my services tomorrow as well. Remember, I'm not doing this for free, but money won't buy this either." Cologne added.

"Meaning?"

"You'll find out tomorrow. Come now Shampoo," on that note, Cologne hopped on her staff and started pogoing away, Shampoo jogging close behind leaving the two friends alone.

Once the Amazon duo was out of sight and earshot, Videl fell flat on the ground, panting hard.

"Videl! Are you alright?" asked a worried looking Akane.

The Furinkan fighter received her answer in the form of a low grumble.

"I think now I understand how Gohan and his family feel after a long, tough fight. I don't think I've ever been _this_ tired or hungry in ages!" Videl playfully groaned.

"Maybe he's just rubbing off on you," Akane giggled.

Videl extended a hand up which Akane heartfully grasped, helping her friend back to her feet. As Videl stood back up, Akane couldn't helpbut notice how shaky she was. Understandable after that fight with Shampoo. She could most likely still walk but it didn't look like she could go very fast

'Hmmm...in that case.'

Akane turned her back to Videl and took a knee. Videl could only look in confusion before Akane said, "Well, get on!"

"Akane you don't have to carry me, I can still wa-AAH!"

Cutting Videl off, Akane took Videl by the arm and forcibly pulled her onto her back. "We're not having this argument. I've done it once with Ranma, and I'm not looking for a repeat. Now come on, let's get you patched up."

With Videl on her back, Akane ran out of the vacant lot and off to the one person she knew would have Videl back fighting fit in no time.

[Meanwhile]

Shampoo and Cologne had returned to the Cat Cafe. While Shampoo stormed off to take a much needed bath, Cologne headed towards the rear of the restaurant, deep in thought.

'That girl, Videl. She's acquainted with one of the Turtle Hermit's greatest students. It's not farfetched to think she may know the Turtle Hermit himself.' Her eyes narrowed. 'I must learn his whereabouts, because if anyone knows where _she_ is, it's him!'

 

**_(A/N: Welp that as they say, is that. After an interesting demonstration by Videl, as well as a few info drops being dumped, Cologne has agreed to train Videl. But what exactly is she expecting to get in return, and who could_ ** **SHE _be? As for the fight itself, well, what can I even say, everyone kind of guessed how things would play out right down to the wire: Shampoo initially has the edge, Videl's flight powers turn the tide, etc. [I gotta work on my unpredictability]. Next time we'll slow things down a bit as Videl gets introduced to a couple more of Furinkan's regulars, one of whom should be no surprise, and who knows what Cologne will have in store for Videl? Only one way to find out.)_**

  1. **I REALLY need to find a way to get around my block with my Spidey/MHA fanfic.**



 


	21. R and R; A Casual Stroll Through Town

** My Life's Stranger Than Yours **

**_(A/N: By the time this chapter's out, this'll be old news, but...I CAN'T FRICKIN' BELIEVE IT! Videl's actually in Dragon Ball FighterZ! She was the ONE character I wanted more than anybody else! They said it wouldn't happen, they said I, and people like me were crazy, BUT WE WERE RIGHT!! I already main Adult Gohan, but you better believe I'm gonna main her too! [Current Team: Videl, Gohan, SS Goku, in that order]. That being said, That's not the reason this chapter took a while. Just needed to find my footing with it and if you follow me as an author, you know that I took a short detour to write a quick Valentine's Day Oneshot yesterday featuring DBZ's two best couples. With all that said, let's get into it)_ **

_A Little R and R; A Casual Stroll Through Town_

Following the brutal battle with Shampoo, Akane had carried Videl through the unusually empty streets of Furinkan until they had arrived at a rather basic looking building.

"Ahhhh, finally. We're here!" Akane proclaimed, setting Videl down.

"Where is here?" asked Videl.

"It's our family clinic. Who better to patch you up than an actual doctor?"

"Hmm...makes sense."

The two girls entered the building only to be greeted with an empty doctor's office.

"Is he not here right now? Dr. Tofu?" Akane called out.

At Akane's voice, a figure suddenly appeared before the two girls revealing itself to be a skeleton.

"KYAAAAA!!"

Videl shrieked out stumbling backwards into a sloppy defensive stance.

"Well if it isn't Akane," said a male voice. From behind the skeleton, a man in a black robe and glasses revealed himself.

"Dr. Tofu!" Akane greeted.

The kindly physician let out a chuckle as he hooked the skeleton back on it's stand. "Please excuse Betty over here. She tends to get a little overzealous whenever we get a new patient. I hope she didn't startle you," Tofu apologized to Videl.

"Uhh..." Videl was left with no words as she tried her hardest to get a read on Dr. Tofu. At first glance he seemed like a normal enough doctor, but after that stunt with a skeleton (that he named), she was understandably a little skeptical.

"I have to say it's been a while," Tofu started. "Don't think you've visited since that weakness moxibustion incident."

'Weakness what?'

"Has it really been that long?" Akane murmured. "Regardless, it is nice to see you again too. Though I wish I could say this was a casual visit." Akane replied.

"Hmm, I figured as much. Am I right in assuming your friend here is the reason for your visit? Pardon my saying so, but she looks like she's been through quite a bit."

"You don't know the half of it Doctor."

"Here, wait on the bed over there and I'll be with you in a minute Miss...?"

"Videl."

"Ms. Videl."

"Yes sir," Videl politely replied.

Dr. Tofu stepped out of the room, leaving the two girls alone. As Videl made her way to the bed, she was quickly halted by Akane.

"You know, if you have a spare set of clothes, you might want to take a minute to change." she suggested.

Videl looked down at her clothes and remembered her clothes had been all but cut to ribbons courtesy of one too many close calls with Shampoo and that sword.

"Good call."

Pulling out a capsule, Videl closed the curtain on the bed (just in case) and popped it open in a puff of smoke. In an instant, Videl was now in her trademark 'FIGHT' tunic.

A few minutes later, Tofu soon returned with a roll of bandages and disinfectant spray in hand.

"All right. Let's take a look at that leg of yours."

Taking a seat on the bed, Videl stuck out her leg as Dr. Tofu crouched down to examine the cut before he proceeded to spray the cut down with the disinfectant, causing Videl to wince at the stinging sensation.

"Oh sorry. I probably should've warned you about that," Tofu chuckled.

"Aww that's nothing. I've taken much worse than a little stinging." Videl boasted as he began wrapping her leg up in bandages.

A short moment later, Tofu finished wrapping up Videl's wound before giving her upper thigh one last solid examination.

"Okay. The wound wasn't too bad, but you may want to try not putting too much pressure on your leg for the time being. That being said, It should be okay to remove the bandages in the morning," said Tofu.

"Sure thing," Videl simply replied.

"Actually if you don't mind my asking, how exactly did your leg get cut like that? You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but I won't lie. I'm rather curious about the whole ordeal because if I didn't know any better, I'd say the cut on your leg was done by a sword," Tofu proclaimed.

Videl's eyes widened at Tofu's deduction. "How...how did you figure _that_ out!?" Videl exclaimed.

Dr. Tofu gave Videl a mildly surprised look. "I was...mostly joking just now. You were really struck with a sword?" he asked.

"It's...kind of a long story," Videl meekly replied.

"Though to make it short, she just had a sparring match with Shampoo." Akane chimed in.

"Shampoo?" Tofu asked. "Ahhh, so that's what it is. You're Ranma's latest suitor, aren't you?" Tofu asked raising an inquisitive eyebrow.

Akane intensely flinched as Videl gave him a confused look. "Wait, what!?"

"Oh...am I mistaken?"

"Dr. Tofu it's not what you think!" Akane interjected. "Videl is NOT another fiancee, and Ranma has nothing to do with this!"

Tofu and Videl both sweatdropped at Akane's outburst, but Videl was just left with a myriad of questions.

"Hold on. What do you mean by 'Ranma's latest suitor,'?" Videl asked.

"Well...I assume you know about Ranma and Akane's engagement, correct?"

"Yeah...?"

"Well, let's just say that Ranma's father has a really bad habit of promising Ranma to various girls for some reason or another," Tofu explained.

"That...that's insane!" Videl exclaimed. "A single arranged marriage is one thing but what kind of parent offers their kid up multiple times!?"

"To be completely fair to Mr. Saotome there've been a couple of times where Ranma gets himself into those kinds of situations, though it's usually been some kind of accident, like in Shampoo's case."

"What do you mean Shampoo's case?" asked Videl.

"You didn't know? Well, to make another long story short, it's the law of Shampoo and Cologne's home village that if one of them is defeated by a man not from their tribe, then the two must get married and well...you've at least seen Ranma fight before correct?"

Videl's eyes widened as her imagination went to work and she pictured a scene of Ranma dealing a finishing blow to a combatative Shampoo.

'So that's why Cologne calls him Son-In-Law,' she realized.

Videl turned to Akane intending to ask a few more questions about Ranma's multiple engagements, but held her tongue when she witnessed her friend clenching her fists tightly, seemingly seething with a serious fury.

"Still, if you can match blows with Shampoo you must be a pretty talented martial artist yourself," Tofu praised.

"Thank you," Videl said with a blush. "Cologne is actually going to start training me." Tofu couldn't help but do a double take at that revelation.

"Is something wrong?" asked Videl.

"No not at all. Though I do wonder what Cologne's true intentions are. She's done some pretty crazy things in her crusade to make Ranma choose Shampoo, so I wouldn't put using you in some way past her." Tofu warned.

Videl giggled. "Thanks for the heads up Doc, but I've already gotten the warning." she said stepping out of the bed. "While I do intend to return what I owe for her training me, I'm not just going to let myself be a pawn in some scheme." she added sternly.

Videl lightly kicked her leg out a couple of times to try and get a feel for the bandages. Thankfully it didn't seem like they'd interfere with her walking too much.

'Hmmm...not bad.'

"How's it feel Videl?" asked Akane.

Right after Videl answered with a simple thumbs up, a low rumble filled the room, eliciting a blush to appear on her face.

Dr.Tofu let out a light chuckle. "Well, it sounds like you have a healthy appetite at least."

Akane couldn't help but giggle as Videl sheepishly turned her head aside.

"Thanks for your help Dr. Tofu," Akane called as she and Videl made their exit with a pair of waves. As the two girls disappeared, Tofu sat back in his chair and wheeled himself over to Betty.

"I don't know about you Betty, but I think our town is about to get a whole new kind of shaken up."

[A few minutes later]

"Well...that was one of the most...eventful doctor visits I've ever had...at least for just a simple patch up," Videl said.

"Dr. Tofu's a character alright, but he really is a great doctor. At least...when Kasumi's not near him." Akane mused.

"Kasumi, your sister...? On second thought, I don't want to know," Videl dismissed. "What I would like to know is..."

"What?" asked Akane. "Videl...? Know what?"

Akane turned to see Videl standing motionless with a bright eyed expression on her face.

"Videl?"

"What is that amazing smell!?" Videl exclaimed.

Akane raised a confused eyebrow, but in the next instance, she too got a whiff of something appetizing. Appetizing, but also familiar. The smell was soon accompanied by a fast moving shadow darting over their heads. Turning their attention upwards, the two girls caught a glimpse of a feminine looking figure covered in a LOT of red, from her clothes right down to her hair, carrying what looked like a takeout box soaring overhead and landing on a nearby rooftop.

Pausing for a moment, she let out a breath before reaching inside the box and pulling out a disc shaped food and taking a sizable bite out of it.

"Mmph! Just what I needed!" she satisfyingly murmured. "Okay, NOW it's time to hit the ice-cream place." With a grunt, she hopped off to another nearby rooftop until she was out of sight.

The two short-haired girls simply stood motionless as they watched the familiar redhead disappear.

"Was that...was that Ranma?" asked Videl.

"Yeah, I think so." Akane answered.

"Okay...and what was that she was eating?" Videl added her eyes getting notably wider.

"Looked like okonomiyaki. I guess now we know what that smell was," Akane noted. 'He said he was going to the ice-cream parlor, but it looks like he stopped by Ukyo's place.'

Akane was ungraciously jarred from her thoughts by Videl fiercely grasping her hands onto Akane's arm and harshly yanking her back.

"There's an okonomiyaki shop here!?"

"Y-yeah. It's actually not far from here. You wanna check it out?"

"Yes!"

"Alright then follow me."

Akane proceeded to dash up the street, Videl in hot pursuit. Truth be told, Akane was actually rather surprised by Videl's uncharacteristically excited outburst. Then again, if the previous rumbles from inside Dr. Tofu's office were anything to go by, she couldn't really blame her.

[A few minutes later]

"Well, here it is," said a panting Akane.

Videl turned to the building they were standing beside and read aloud the sign out front. "Ucchan's Okonomiyaki?"

Videl paused as the intense scents of a flaming grill and numerous appetizing ingredients assaulted her senses and elicited another low intense growl from her stomach.

"Geeze, I heard you the first time," mused an embarrassed Videl.

"Come on, let's get you inside before you die of starvation," Akane joked.

Upon entering the establishment, Akane and Videl were met with a girl manning (womanning?) a large grill while another girl with a ponytail was waiting on the current group of customers.

"It smells delicious in here!" Videl exclaimed.

"Just wait till you taste em," Akane replied.

Once the waitress finished delivering the order she was carrying, she turned to spotted Akane and Videl approaching.

"Well look who it is. Ms. Ukyo!"

"What is it Konatsu? I'm a little busy here!" Ukyo shot back.

"Another one of your special customers is here!" said Konatsu.

"Special customers?" The chef in question finished her current dish before turning her attention over to the approaching Akane and Videl.

"Oh, Akane," Ukyo pleasantly greeted.

"Hey Ukyo," Akane replied taking a seat.

"And who might you be?" Ukyo said focusing on Videl.

"The name's Videl."

"She's not from around here and she wanted a bite to eat so..."

"Hup!" Ukyo cut her off. "Say no more. Two of the regulars coming right up!"

Ukyo instantly got to work pulling out two small spatulas and tossing a myriad of ingredients on the grill. Videl watched in awe as Ukyo began tossing and turning the ingredients with insane speed and expert precision. Videl could only continue to stare at the performance in great anticipation.  In a true display of 'Fast Food', Ukyo produced two serivngs of stuffed okonmiyaki within a few brief minutes.

"I gave Akane her usual, but since you're new in town, I gave you one of our specials."

Videl wasted no time in picking the dish up and taking a bite out of it.

"Mmmmmmph-!" Videl let out a satisfied moan. "This is delicious!"

"Hmph I do my best," Ukyo said with a confident grin.

"I've had plenty of okonomiyaki growing up, but I think this one might be the best I've had yet!"

Taking a small excerpt from the saiyans' book, Videl finished her food in record time (for her at least), and quickly ordered two more.

"Videl, take it easy. This isn't Food Wars you know," Akane grinned.

"Oh one of them's not for me. One of them's for Gohan. I'm sure he'd love to try one too."

"Oh, so you want rice in one of them?" asked Ukyo.

"No I...well...actually yes, but that's not what I was talking about," Videl chuckled.

"She was talking about her boyfriend," Akane clarified.

Ukyo raised an intrigued eyebrow. "Oh!?"

"He and his family love to eat, so I know they'd enjoy this place a lot."

"Well next time you're in town, bring him over so he can get em' while they're hot!" Ukyo exclaimed.

"Sure thing."

The two friends continued to eat while Ukyo proceeded to start cleaning the grill and Konatsu went off to make deliveries.

"Although, speaking of which, that reminds me," Akane suddenly spoke up. "Ukyo, Ranma stopped by here earlier, right?"

Ukyo's expression turned mildly downtrodden. "Yeah, and he looked really upset about something. He didn't even stick around to chat. He just ordered, paid, and darted off to who know where."

The two short haired girls sweat dropped.

'Yup, he's still mad.' they thought in unison.

"Akane, are you and Ranchan fighting again?" Ukyo asked.

'Ranchan?' Videl asked.

"No, we're not. Ranma's just all upset because he lost a sparring match," Akane informed her.

"Wait really? Ranchan lost? To who!?"

"No one important, but you know how he gets whenever he loses a match." said a nonchalant Akane.

"True enough I guess, but anyone who can give Ranchan a hard time, must be a pretty incredible guy," Ukyo said with a suspicious undertone.

"Hey Ukyo? Why do you keep calling Ranma, 'Ranchan'?"

A small blush found itself on Ukyo's face. "Oh we've been friends since we were kids." she giggled. "He used to call me Ucchan, still does in fact."

'Wait, she named her restaurant after a nickname Ranma gave her?' Videl's eyes widened as the pieces fell into place. "Wait a sec...Ukyo, do you have a crush on Ranma?" Videl asked.

Ukyo's blush intensified. "Oh no, it's nothing like that. He's actually my fiancee," she declared.

Videl halted as she suddenly remembered what Dr. Tofu had said earlier.

_'Ranma's father has a bad habit of promising him to multiple women.'_

"Uhh...Videl?" called a concerned Ukyo.

"Wait, so Ranma has three engagements!? How the hell does that work?" blurted a befudled Videl.

"It's all his old man's fault," Ukyo snapped.

"So I've heard," Videl deadpanned. "But let me see if I've got this straight, Ranma's engaged to you, Akane, AND that Shampoo girl?"

Ukyo's expression instantly turned sour. "You just had to bring her up, didn't you?" Ukyo muttered.  

"You don't like her?"

"She and her grandma are nothing but a couple of pains in the ass. Not only does their restaurant steal my business, that purple haired-bimbo thinks she can seduce away my Ranchan!"

'Geeze, talk about love rivals. I've seen a few love triangles before, but this is more like a love pyramid.' Videl deduced.

Ukyo was nearly livid at this point, but she quickly took a breath and calmed herself down. "But in the end it doesn't matter because I'M his cute fiancee!" she declared with pride.

"Oh really?" said a skeptical Videl.

"What? You don't believe me!?"

"Oh no, don't get me wrong, you are a pretty cute girl, but don't you think you're being a bit too...sure of yourself?"

Ukyo crossed her arms and triumphantly puffed out her chest. "Not at all, and do you know why? Because Ranchan told me himself!"

'Hmph...point taken I guess.'

Videl was about to continue eating but held herself when she felt a strange pressure invading her personal space. Turning to her side, she could see Akane trembling in a similar manner to how she was back at Dr. Tofu's office.

'Maybe this was a mistake...'

[A few moments later]

The two short haired girls left Ucchan's, Videl with a takeout box in hand, and continued to roam the streets in awkward silence. Videl could tell that Akane was upset, but she still had a myriad of questions to ask. Finally breaking the nerve-racking quietness, Videl spoke up.

"So Ranma has three fiancees?"

"Videl, please don't, I'm not in the mood," Akane dismissed.

"Alright, fair enough, but at least answer this one thing," Videl requested.

"What?"

"If Ukyo's the 'cute' fiancee, what fiancee does that make you?"

_STAB!_

An emotional arrow lodged itself in Akane's chest as her expression darkened. "Heh, isn't it obvious, I'm the stocky, violent fiancee, who can't cook and has no sex appeal whatsoever!" Akane topped this declaration off with a punch to a nearby lamppost with a sign that read, _'New Titanium Alloy Lamppost is incredibly solid. Do not hit with bare hands.'_

As a small cracking sound reverberated through the evening air, Akane's eyes began to steadily tear up.

[A few minutes later]

The duo could be seen exiting Dr. Tofu's office, with Akane's left hand wrapped in bandages up to her wrist.

"I hate it when this happens," Akane muttered.

"So you've punched something and hurt your hand like this before?"

"Not...that often, but more times than I'd like to admit," squeaked an embarrassed Akane.

'The two girls continued to walk together in silence. Due to feeling at least somewhat responsible for Akane hurting her hand, she didn't have the nerve to say anything anymore.

 To her surprise, Akane was the one to break the silence this time.

"You know...it's getting kind of late. You should probably be getting back home," Akane noted.

Looking into the sky, Videl noticed that the sun had already begun to set. "Yeah, you're probably right."

With a breath, Videl slowly began to ascend in the air. 'Maybe I shouldn't pry anymore,' Videl thought. Truth be told, she wanted to know more about the whole Fiancee situation, but if Akane's earlier actions were any indication, it was a majorly sour subject for her, at least in some capacity.

She was about to jet off for home, but looking down at the retreating Akane, a mishievous grin rose to her face. Swooping down, Videl grabbed Akane by the waist and pulled her along into the air too.

"Whaaaaa-!? Videl what are you doing!?"

"Figured I could at least fly you home before I leave. But since we're already WAY to close to use my jet copter, I figured I'd do it the easy way!" Videl smirked.

"Could you at least gimme some warning next time!?"

"No promises!"

A short flight later, Videl had finally let Akane down in front of the Tendo Dojo gates. "Well, I guess now we're even."

"For what?"

"You carried me to the Doctor's place, I carried you home. We're even."

Akane giggled. "Yeah, I guess so."

"See you tomorrow?"

"Sure thing. You know how to get to the Cat Cafe, right?"

"I'll see it from the sky," Videl assured.

"Well then, goodnight!"

"Later!"

As Videl finally made her way offf into the sunset, she couldn't help but think back to how Akane answered her question.

 _'I'm the stocky, violent fiancee, who can't cook and has no sex appeal whatsoever!_ '

Now that she remembered, Ranma had said something to that effect back when the two fought at Gohan's house. She didn't know the intricacies of their relationship, but if that was anything to go by, maybe she would be better off not getting involved.

'Speaking of relationships,' Videl suddenly recalled. Quickly turning her attention to her communicator watch, "Hey Gohan, you there?"

_"Videl?"_

"Are you still in the city?"

_"Yeah, I finished my patrol and mostly just hung out at the library. I was actually about to head home now."_

"Well don't leave yet. I'm on my way back, and I've got a little treat for you!"

_"What kind of treat?"_

"It's a surprise, but trust me, you'll love it!"

_"Hmmhm, if you say so. See you in a few."_

Videl hung up the call and increased her speed. She couldn't wait to see the look on Gohan's face when he took that first bite.

**_(A/N: Little known fact, Videl's favorite food is actually CONFIRMED to be okonomiyaki [Look up the Character Guide on Kanzenshuu]. When I learned that, I knew I just HAD to do a scene of Videl meeting Ukyo at some point, maybe even becoming a regular. That being said, this was more of a breather chapter, but Videl becomes acquainted with more of Ranma's main cast and learns that Ranma and Akane may have more of a rocky road between them than she initially thought. Strap in folks cause next time, training begins!)_ **

**PS: Happy Belated Valentine's Day!**


	22. The Point of Impact

** My Life’s Stranger Than Yours **

**_(A/N: Welp, I finally did it. I FINALLY got a new workable computer! I also quit my job, but that’s neither here nor there since I’m all lined up for a new one. The point is now, I have a machine that I can comfortably work with which means I may be able to get newer chapters out a faster pace or at the very least, the chapters I’ll release at my current pace may be longer. With all that said, let’s get right to it!)_ **

_The Powerful Point of Impact Technique; Videl’s Training From Hell_

“I…have…RETURNED!”

Furinkan High had let out for the day and as all the students began pouring out through the gate, they were met with none other than an extremely harsh looking Kuno who was barely managing to hold himself up with his wooden sword.

“Huh…Kuno’s back?”

“He was gone?”

“Yes, I Furinkan High’s Blue Thunder have finally managed to find his way back from the depths of He-!!!”

_THWACK!_

In an instant, Kuno was met with a fist to the face, cutting off his speech and planting him 6 inches into the ground. Following a brief silence, Ranma, Kuno’s assailant, let out a deep exhale.

“Ha…I feel SO much better now,” said an upbeat Ranma.

“Rnnnmh Shatome-MMPH!”

The muffled declaration was interrupted by Akane stepping on the still grounded Kuno’s head and trancing off in a rush.

“Huh, where’s she goin’?” Ranma thought aloud.

“Ran-ma…Saotome…!” Kuno strained as he picked himself up.

“So Kuno, where ya been the last couple of days?” Ranma cracked his knuckles. “I’ve actually been lookin’ for ya!”

“I’ve…no time to…waste with you, riffraff…. I must prepare for my rematch with…!”

Kuno was once again cut off and subsequently thrown back into the ground by Ranma’s foot connecting with the back of his head.

“What’s wrong Senpai?” Ranma said through grit teeth. “Don’t you wanna take a minute to greet your favorite ‘kouhai’!?”

Kuno once again picked himself up off the ground and held his sword poised for battle. The only things that could be heard for the next several minutes were the sound of Ranma cracking his knuckles and a vengeful scream of **“RANMA SAOTOME…!!!!”**

[Elsewhere]

Akane’s brisk jog quickly accelerated into a light dash as she hurried over to the Cat Café. ‘She said she’d be able to find it from the sky…I just hope I can catch her in time!’

[Meanwhile]

Videl soared through the skies of Satan City, making her way over to Nerima. As she increased her speed, her comm watch began to beep.

‘Oh…I do NOT have time for this!’ she mentally groaned.

“This is Videl!” she said into the comm.

_“Videl, it’s me!”_

“Oh, Gohan! What’s up?”

_“I was just wondering where you disappeared to. You bolted from class so fast, the others and I missed you.”_

Videl facepalmed. She’d forgotten she hadn’t told Gohan (or anyone else) about her training with Cologne. “I just wanted to get out to do some training. You do remember my fight with that Ryoga guy, right?”

_“Of course, but if that’s all, then do you want me to lend you a hand?”_

“Thanks for the offer Gohan, but I wanna try something a little different.” Videl replied.

_“Different how?”_

“That’s for me to know,” she playfully winked. “You’ll just have to wait and see…Oh! before I forget, this training may take a few days so…we may not be seeing much of each other outside of school,” she quickly added.

_“Awww, for real?”_

Videl couldn’t help but giggle as she could flawlessly picture the pouty expression on Gohan’s face.

“Oh, don’t feel _too_ bad Gohan. Who knows? Maybe when we see each other again, I _might_ have more of that okonomiyaki from last night.” She said in a teasing manner.

_“……Well…that does sound nice,” Gohan sheepishly replied._

‘I _thought_ he’d enjoy that.’

_“If you change your mind though- “_

“I know, you’ll be there for me.”

_“Always.”_

Videl ended the call and let out a loving sigh. While she did get annoyed from time to time when Gohan got a bit too protective whenever fighting was involved, it was still nice to have someone so supportive on her side. Vigorously shaking her head, Videl quickly shifted her focus from Gohan to her impending training session as she finally arrived in the skies of Furinkan.

[           ]

As Akane finally arrived at the Cat Café, she was met with Shampoo who was returning from a delivery on her bike.

“Shampoo!”

“Hmm…Akane here, where flying girl?”

“Where do you think?” chimed in a new voice.

The two Nerima natives turned upwards to see Videl softly descend by Akane’s side.

“Shampoo surprise you show up.”

“Hmph, you didn’t really think I’d just run away from this, did you?”

Shampoo merely gave a huff before opening the door and inviting her rivals inside.

“Great Grandmother, Akane and Flying Girl here now!” Shampoo called.

In just a short minute, Cologne pogoed over to the girls with a pleased look on her face. “So, you decided to show up after all. Not going to lie, but I almost thought you’d flake on me.”

“You too?” Videl scoffed. “Just who the hell do you think I am?”

“Well, you’ve certainly got the right attitude. But before we begin, let’s discuss compensation,” Cologne reminded.

Videl tensed up. She hadn’t forgotten that Cologne wanted something in return, but the fact that she had no idea what Cologne could want greatly unnerved her. Akane and Dr. Tofu laid out the possibility that she’d want her to get involved with some plan to ensnare Ranma, and she had no intention of involving herself with that mess. If she had to turn down her offer, at least she could always train with Gohan…right?

“In exchange for my agreeing to train you girl, all I ask for in return is…”

“Is…?”

There was a pregnant pause before Cologne gave her answer.

“An audience with the Turtle Hermit himself.”

Silence.

“…Huh?”

“I wish to meet the Turtle Hermit in person…you can do that, can you?”

“Y-yeah. That’s no problem at all,” Videl stammered.

“You don’t sound like it’s ‘no problem’…” Cologne said taking note of Videl’s tone.

“It’s really not a problem, I…just wasn’t expecting something so…simplistic.”

Cologne let out a hearty snicker. “What, were you expecting me to say, ‘I wanted some impossible to find antique’ or something?”

“I don’t know what I was expecting, I just know it wasn’t this…,” Videl chuckled.

Akane raised a skeptical eyebrow. ‘While I’m glad Cologne’s request isn’t too…out there, why does this feel too easy?’

“Well, if you have no more questions, then please, follow me,” Cologne ordered.

“Actually…I do want to know why you want to see Master Roshi so badly,” Videl asked.

“Sorry girl, but you’re going to have to earn that answer,” Cologne replied. “Shampoo, keep an eye on the restaurant.”

With a dejected sigh, Shampoo headed back to work while Videl and Akane followed Cologne, shooting the two a disdainful glare.

A few moments later the girls were assembled behind the Cat Café, large stones scattered all over the area.

“What’s with all the big rocks?” Videl muttered.

“Now, before we begin, I must once again remind you that even if you manage to succeed in learning this technique, there’s no guarantee that you’ll be able to defeat Ryoga. After all…”

“…He’s Ranma’s arch-rival for a reason,” Videl finished. “Not to be rude, but I’ve heard this song and dance before, and I get that I’m outmatched. Either way, I’m not turning away from this fight,” Videl declared sternly.

‘Hmm, even if she does fail, her spunk alone will have at least made this somewhat entertaining,’ Cologne smirked.

“In that case, let’s not waste time.” Cologne motioned to one of the rocks, and the girls followed her gaze.

“Now, punch that rock as hard as you can,” Cologne ordered.

“Huh?” Once again, a beyond simple request caught the two young girls off guard. Regardless, Videl took a fighting stance before one of the rocks and with a yell, launched her fist into the rock, full force.

Videl grunted as the impact took more of a toll on her hand than it did the rock, despite a small piece chipping off. If not for her fingerless gloves, her hand may have taken some actual damage.

“…Is that really all you’ve got?” asked an unimpressed Cologne.

“What? You asked me to punch it, and I did,” Videl replied shaking her hand.

“The point of that was to ascertain your physical strength. You’re fighting skill and technique is adequate, but that won’t help if you don’t have the power to back it up. Considering you have the ability to manipulate your Ki, I expected you to completely shatter that rock,” Cologne explained. “If that was the extent of your power, then even IF you learn the technique, you still wouldn’t have a prayer against Ryoga. Seriously, even for Akane there, shattering a stone such as this is mere child’s play.”

“What’s that supposed to mean!?” exclaimed an offended Akane.

Videl didn’t wish to admit this out loud, but she knew what Cologne was getting at. Though she had no problems winning against opponents much bigger than herself, she knew that if they’d been contests of pure muscle, she’d have more than a few extra hardships. Even her father, despite whatever lies he may have told or whatever Gohan or the other Z-Fighters may say about her being a better fighter than him, did still have more physical strength than her. She could break through more than a few bricks all right, but even she couldn’t break her father’s record of 19 or punch through the side of a bus.

Trembling with frustration, Videl exclaimed, “What even is this technique anyway? You keep talking about how it’ll give me a fighting chance, but what is it even supposed to do?”

Cologne closed her eyes and sighed. “The Point of Impact Technique.”

“Point of Impact?”

“Akane, you recall The Breaking Point Technique, yes?” Cologne asked.

Akane nodded. “Of course, that’s one of Ryoga’s signature moves.”

“What are you guys talking about?”

Ignoring Videl, Cologne hopped beside the rock she had previously punched and simply poked it with her finger. In an instant, the rock shattered into hundreds of tiny pieces. The girls had to shield themselves from the shower of pebbles as the accompanying dust began to clear.

“What…what just happened?!” asked a dumbfounded Videl.

“That was the Breaking Point Technique. You see, everything in nature has a breaking point that, when hit with the correct amount of force will cause it to shatter,” Cologne explained.

‘Unbelieveable….’

“However, there is one exception to this.” To prove her point, Cologne hopped in front of Videl and poked her in the forehead.

“Whaaaaaa……!”

“Calm down girl!” Cologne ordered. “Like I was saying, the one exception to the breaking point, is the human body.”

“O-oh…” Videl let out a relived sigh.

“Wait…” Akane interjected. “I understand showing Videl the Bakusai Tenketsu so she’ll know what Ryoga has up his sleeve, but what does this have to do with the technique you’re trying to show us now?”

“Everything Ms. Tendo,” Cologne replied. “Point of impact is actually a variation of the Breaking Point Technique. The original Bakusai Tenketsu was initially created to deal with rocks in quarries, which is why it doesn’t work on humans. This technique, however, does.”

Hopping back a short distance, Cologne stood perched on her staff in an intimidating fashion. “Now Ms. Satan, come at me!”

Videl shot a glance over to Akane who could only shrug. With a sigh, Videl took a fighting stance before she dashed at Cologne, poised to strike. Firing off a low kick, Videl attempted to sweep Cologne off her feet, but the elderly Amazon simply hopped over the spunky fighter’s attack and countered by thrusting her staff at her.

With an impressive display of speed, Videl caught the end of Cologne’s staff, but left herself wide open. Cologne then slid down the staff until she was level with Videl’s midsection. She then lightly tapped her tiny fist into Videl’s gut.

“Ughh…”

Videl barely had time to react as a great pressure swelled up in Videl’s midsection and she found herself lying laying down in a pile of jars, outdoor tools, and other miscellaneous junk.

“Videl! Are you alright!?” Akane quickly rushed over to Videl’s side and helped her back to her feet.

“Owww…what…what happened?” Videl asked rubbing her sore spots.

“I just demonstrated the Point of Impact Technique,” Cologne replied.

“Okay but…what…” Videl paused as she slowly fell to her knees, her body still shaking after getting launched away like that. “What did you… _do_!”

“The Point of Impact Technique is exactly as it sounds. While the Bakusai Tenketsu is all about finding a specific area on an object and striking it with sufficient force, the Point of Impact is all about containing the force until the exact moment you make contact with your opponent.” Cologne explained.

“Allow me to elaborate. When you draw the string of a bow, the arrow has potential energy. When you release it…”

“…It becomes kinetic energy!” Videl finished. “Yeah, we just happened to be circling around this topic at school,” she chuckled.

“It’s great that you understand the idea but putting it into practice is another story. The POI is a technique that only a martial artist who’s familiar with harnessing their Ki is able to perform because in this case, your ki is the bow being pulled back.”

Videl looked down at her hands as she slowly but surely began to understand Cologne’s explanation. “So all I have to do is channel my energy into my hands and hold it there until I want to attack?”

“So, you DO understand,” Cologne grinned. “Alternatively, you could also just use your Ki to enhance your physical abilities the old-fashioned way, like a burst of adrenaline. That may not be so useful in this upcoming bout with Ryoga, but it may help in the future. Just some food for thought.”

At Cologne’s words, Videl couldn’t help but think back to how Gohan initially explained flight.

_“You basically just channel your energy underneath you, and let it lift you up.”_

‘Hmmm…I wonder if it’s basically the same as how Cologne just explained it…’

“Now then. Before you can work on learning the technique itself, we’ll first need to build up your strength,” Cologne proclaimed.

“Okay then. Let’s get started,” Videl replied. While she had a look of pure determination on her face, Akane’s expression on the other hand became noticeably grim.

‘I’ve seen Cologne’s training methods before, and if this technique really is like the Bakusai Tenketsu, then you’re going to be in for one hell of a ride. Still, I’ll be here to back you up every step of the way!’ Akane inwardly proclaimed.

“First things first, you’ll need the proper gear for this training,” said Cologne.

[A few minutes later]

“What the Hell is this!?”

The girls, Shampoo included, were all reassembled in the kitchen where all eyes were on Videl who was clad in a pink and red traditional Chinese outfit that looked cross between both Chi-Chi and Shampoo’s normal attire.

“Shampoo admit, it actually look not bad on Flying Girl,” Shampoo complimented.

“You know, she’s not wrong,” Akane added trying to quell the situation.

“Well the Nekohanten doesn’t have a _specific_ uniform, but you have to at least wear the proper attire if you’re going to work here,” Cologne answered.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, when did I agree to work at your restaurant!?” Videl burst.

 “It’s part of your training. We’ll get to the rough stuff soon enough, but for now, this will just help to build some of that old strength.”

“How is working at your restaurant supposed to help me build strength?” asked a disbelieving Videl.

Cologne proceeded to hop over to Videl and swiftly attached a choker to her next. Before Videl could ask what happened, Cologne pointed to a cup on the nearby counter with her staff. “You see that cup over there? Would you be a dear and fetch it for me?” Cologne smirked.

Videl sighed but complied. As she attempted to reach for the cup, Videl realized that she was unable to move her legs.

“H-hey…!”

Videl continued to try and take a step but was still unable to move. She then tried to simply reach for the cup but found that she couldn’t move her arms either.

“What the hell!? What gives!? Why can’t I move!?”

“Oh! Did I forget to mention that that isn’t an ordinary uniform you’re wearing?” Cologne snickered.

“Wha-!? AHHHH!”

In the next instance, Videl harshly fell down barely holding herself up on her hands and knees. Akane once again moved to help her friend but was halted by Cologne.

“What you’re wearing now is an old Amazonian training uniform designed specifically for raising up a person’s Ki. Because Ki control is so rare among Martial Artists in this day and age, I unsurprisingly, never get to use this thing. It’s time for this baby to finally pay off!”

“Wait, so I’m just your guinea pig now!?” Videl boomed.

“Cologne, what are you planning with this?” Akane asked.

“It’s really quite simple. You see, when you first put the uniform on, it was nothing more than a plain old outfit. However, once I added the piece de resistance, the choker, it activated the uniform.”

“Activated…what?”

“You’re feeling a great deal of weight on your body aren’t you?”

“You…think!?”

“You see girl, you can raise your Ki the same way you build up physical muscle through basic strength training and the like. This is merely taking that concept to a much greater level. This uniform, when activated will instantly increase in weight for whoever wears it in accordance to their base Ki level. The smaller your Ki, the heavier the uniform will feel on you, and vice versa. All you have to do is work until you’re able to move around in that uniform as naturally as being naked!”

As Cologne explained the purpose of the uniform, Videl continually struggled to pick herself up. Once she finished though, a panting Videl was finally back on her feet. “So…you’re saying I have to keep this damn thing on…at all times!?”

“Well…for most others, I’d say yes, but given the circumstances, I’ll be nice and take the uniform off for you at closing time every night. However, in exchange for that, you must come DIRECTLY here after school until this part of the training is complete, capice!?”

Videl hesitated to answer. It’s true she had told Gohan that she’d be busy for a while, but she had a life outside of school and training and wasn’t too sure if she was ready to throw that all aside for a grudge that, while completely justified, didn’t seem to mean much anymore in the grand scheme of things.

“Of course, this does seem to be a bit much, so no one will blame you if decide to drop out. At the very least I had a good show watching your match with Shampoo,” Cologne taunted.

Videl narrowed her eyes at the snarky elder’s words. Sick of being talked down to by this old crow, for a few brief moments, the impending fight completely vanished from Videl’s mind as all her focus shifted to a burning desire to make Cologne eat her words.

Standing up as straight as she could, Videl let out a strained but determined, “Let’s…do this!”

“Glad to have you on board Videl,” Cologne snickered. “Get to showing her the ropes Shampoo, the dinner rush is nigh!”

‘Dinner rush?’

Videl had been to enough fancy and local restaurants to know how crazy they could get during the evenings. As a vision of a large group of people swarming the place flashed through her mind, Videl’s face became a light shade of blue.

‘What have I signed up for?’

[A few moments later]

After a reluctant string of goodbyes, Akane had left the Cat Café, a feeling of uneasiness washing over her as she made her way home. ‘Maybe taking her to see Cologne was a bad idea. I know she needs the help, but can she really do this…?’

Before the worry could fully set in, Akane lightly slapped both her cheeks with her hands. “Don’t think like that! Videl’s a strong girl. You just need to have a little faith!” she thought out loud.

Before long, Akane finally arrived back at the Tendo Dojo, where she was warmly greeted by Kasumi.

“Welcome back Akane!” said Kasumi.

“Hey Big Sis.”

“And where have _you_ been all day, Little Sis?” inquired Nabiki.

“Nowhere special, just out with some friends.”

Before the conversation could continue, Nodoka burst into the room and quickly exclaimed, “Oh Akane, you’re back! Have you seen Ranma anywhere?”

“Ranma?” Akane closed her eyes as she attempted to recall the last place she’d seen him. “Come to think of it, I haven’t seen him since school let out.”

“I know Ranma’s more than capable enough to handle himself, but I just can’t help but be a bit worried,” said Nodoka.

“That ol’ Maternal Instinct kicking in, eh?” said a snide Nabiki.

[Meanwhile]

Ranma could be seen strolling down the streets with the most satisfied smile on face. “Man…now that was cathartic…and I’m not even sure I know what that word means! Whatever it means, I ain’t felt this good since I got my strength back after that moxibustion nonsense!” thought a beaming Ranma out loud.

‘Well, now that I got all that outta my system, I think I can finally start trainin’ seriously again! I ain’t gonna let some little squirt make a mockery of me!’ No sooner than Ranma had finished the thought did he find himself falling down an open manhole that he hadn’t bothered to step over.

‘Goddammit irony…’

Elsewhere, on the outskirts of a city not too far away from Furinkan, a battered and bruised Tatewaki Kuno could be seen limping on what was left of his wooden sword, cursing the name of his most hated adversary repeatedly under his breath.

“Damn you…Ranma Saotome……I swear…I will end you someday…so swears…The Blue Thunder…Tatewaki…Ku-!”

Before Kuno could finish, his makeshift crutch finally snapped causing him to tumble and fall to the ground. The last thing Kuno saw before he finally blacked out was a strange image of of what looked like a man’s face; a man with a great deal of fuzzy hair.

**_(A/N: I actually managed to get two chapters out in a month! It’s a miracle! Like I said in the first A/N, now that I have a comfortable, powerful machine to type with, future updates should be a piece of cake. Now it all depends on my writing mood._ ** **_Videl now has a taste of what lies for her at the end of this proverbial rainbow, but will the journey for the metaphorical gold be worth it? And it seems like she’s not the only one who may have found herself a new master as everyone’s favorite wannabe samurai finds himself face to face with…you know who! Training Commences, next time so stay tuned!)_ **

  **PS: I've finally caught up with posting the story on AO3. From this point on, all future Chapters will be uploaded on FF dot net first and then subsequently posted here.**

 


	23. I've Got a Secret; The Pros and Cons to Intensive Training

** My Life’s Stranger Than Yours **

_I've Got a Secret! The Pros and Cons to Intensive Training_

After Akane left the Cat Café, Cologne and Shampoo quickly pulled Videl aside to quickly give her a rundown of what her duties were. Given how hard it was for her to move with the Ki Restraint Uniform on, she was delegated to simply bringing orders to tables. Cologne figured the extra weight of carrying plates would be a nice bonus to the already heavy sensation.

“So, I’m just a waitress?” Videl asked.

“For the moment, but as you start to adjust to the feeling of the uniform on you, you’ll gain more tasks along the way and we can move to the practical part of your training in no time,” Cologne assured her.

“Flying Girl better no make mess. Nekohanten still business to run and have reputation to uphold,” Shampoo warned.

“That reminds me, if you drop any of our customer’s orders, I’ll increase the time you have to stay here by 15 minutes for each ruined order.” Cologne added.

“Wait what!?” Videl exclaimed.

“Come now, isn’t it reasonable that anything that causes this restaurant’s business to deteriorate deserves a proper penalty?”

Videl held her tongue.

“If you wish to get out of that uniform as soon as possible, you simply have to not screw up. Easy right?” Cologne sneered.

Videl barely had a moment to think up a response before pair of patrons came through the door.

“Good evening Grandma!” said one guy.

“We’ll have the usual,” the other added.

“Well, looks like this crash course is ending sooner than expected. Shampoo!” Cologne ordered.

Barely needing her Grandmother’s signal, Shampoo quickly got to work in cooking the two regulars’ their food. In a speed comparable to Ukyo’s with her okonomiyaki, Shampoo quickly produced two large bowls of ramen.

“Now’s your time to prove yourself.” In an instant, Cologne attached the choker to Videl’s neck, and the uniform activated, forcing Videl down to her knees once again.

It took a minute, but Videl managed to get back on her feet, using the nearby counter to hoist herself up. Turning to the two Amazons, a large plate with both bowls on it was shoved in her face by Shampoo.

With a grunt, Videl took the plate in her hands and almost dropped it immediately. Thankfully, she managed to keep it from hitting the floor and the contents in the bowls from spilling out. Normally, it would’ve been relatively simple to carry the food, even despite it having some heft to it. With the extra weight on Videl’s body however, she really had to strain herself to keep everything from falling.

“Flying Girl better get moving. Customers no like when food gets cold.” Shampoo informed her.

‘Gee, you think?’ Videl thought sardonically.

With the food in hand, Videl could only take a small step forward as she made her way out to the dining room. She had only managed three steps before her body began to tremble with exhaustion.

It hadn’t been too long, but the two customers were starting to wonder where their food was. Turning towards the kitchen entrance, they spotted the straining Videl with their order.

“Oh, this place has a new waitress!” said the first one.

“Must’ve just hired her. Just look how slow she is.”

“Who cares about that, look how cute she is!”

“Meh, she ain’t as cute as that one red haired chick they had before. Just look at her boyish haircut. Not much to see upstairs either.”

As the two guys muttered on, Videl, fuming from having heard all the wrong snippets of their conversation finally arrived at their table.

“Thank you for waiting!” Videl said in a faux pleasant tone. With a pair of loud _THUDS_ , Videl harshly set their orders down on the table, and gave a forced out, “Enjoy!” before limping back to the kitchen.

“Dude, you think she heard us?” one of the guys asked.

They received their answer in the form of Videl turning back to glare daggers at them.

“She heard us!” they said in unison.

Once Videl stepped through the curtain into the kitchen, she instantly took a knee, straining to keep herself up, her energy being spent.

“Not bad, for a first timer. Not bad at all,” Cologne praised.

“No…sweat….” Videl panted.

With a satisfied look on her face, Cologne removed the choker from Videl’s neck, turning the uniform back to a basic set of clothes again, causing Videl to completely plummet to the floor.

“Huh? Hey what are you-?”

“I think a brief rest is in order,” Cologne cut her off. “Those two out there were just a warmup. Believe me, you’re going to need all the energy you can spare for what comes next.”

Videl’s face once again turned blue. If it had taken everything she had just to deliver a single order, what was she supposed to do when the place was sure to get busy? She hadn’t had much time to wonder as another customer quickly stepped through the front door.

“Take five. I’ll handle this next order, but then it’s back to work,” Cologne instructed.

Videl sat down on the counter as Shampoo quickly produced a bowl of food and Cologne swiftly served it up to the customer before hopping back into the kitchen. A short time later, after the previous customers had left, more people arrived in larger, but not unmanageable groups.

“On your feet Ms. Videl. It’s time to get back to work.”

Videl sighed as Cologne put the choker back on, activating the uniform. The Elderly Amazon then pogoed out to the dining hall and began to take orders while Shampoo got to work cooking them. A short moment later, Videl could be seen holding a pair of bowls in hand.

“Well, here goes everything.”

_[Later That Evening]_

The Cat Café had finally closed its door following a steady stream of customers. All in all, however, it wasn’t as bad a rush as Videl had initially expected. Sure, the work was still beyond tiring with the weighted suit, but it wasn’t completely unmanageable. What did irk her however were all the lecherous comments from various male guests, many of them being boys at around her age. Thankfully, nothing escalated beyond words.

Once all three women were assembled in the back room, Cologne removed the choker, deactivating the suit and Videl’s body dropped to the floor, a quivering mess.

“Well, you did reasonably well for your first night,” Cologne praised. “Not a single dropped order.”

“We do get complaints about food take too long to be served,” said Shampoo.

“Tis to be expected with a new hire,” said Cologne.

Videl got back up on her shaky legs, and responded, “That was tough…but surprisingly not…terrible.”

“Well I’m glad you feel that way, considering you’ll have to do it all again tomorrow,” smirked Cologne. “Now go home and rest up girl. Something tells me, you’re going to need as much of it as you can get.”

_[A few moments later]_

Thanks to her lack of energy, the flight home was a long one as Videl was unable to go at her usual speed. Flying was STILL the much better option than walking, especially since Videl hadn’t brought her plane with her. Grasping and lightly massaging her tired muscles, Videl let out a sigh.

‘If I’m already this drained after only one day, how long can I even keep this up for?’

She decided to worry about that later as her house finally came into view. As she landed, the only thoughts going through her mind was the intentions to take it easy for the rest of the night and ease the strain of fatigue with a nice hot soak in a bath.

“I’m home!” Videl called.

“Oh, you’re back Ms. Videl!” greeted one of Mr. Satan’s servants.

“Is my father home?” Videl asked.

“He actually wanted us to tell you that he’ll be coming home later for a while. Something about some business to take care of with the reconstruction of the dojo that got destroyed,” the servant informed her.

‘Hmmph, that’s just like Dad. Still can’t say I blame him.’

“Alright then.” Stretching out her limbs, Videl informed the servants not to disturb her for the night, unless there’s an emergency. As far as she was concerned, she earned that bath.

[Three Days Later]

Over the next few days, Videl had gotten into sort of a pattern when it came to working at the Cat Café. Though she had managed to get the hang of working at the Cat Café with the uniform, but no matter how much work she seemed to get done, the weighted uniform just seemed to feel just as heavy as when she first started. Videl knew that gaining muscle didn’t happen just overnight, and since raising ki worked on the same general principle, she was willing to hold any questions she had about the results of her training…at least for now.

One other small issue she had was her friends. Working at the Cat Café took a toll on Videl’s body. At various points in the day, someone would point out how Videl looked to be quivering, no matter how she tried to hide it. Her friends could tell that something was up. Each time they asked questions though, she continued to remind them that she told them she’d been training hard, though only Gohan knew the reason why. For now however, that seemed to be enough to quell their curiosities, but Gohan couldn’t help but remain skeptical.

After finally arriving at the Cat Café, Videl was met by an angry looking Mousse who seemed to be expecting her. The two had gotten reacquainted on Videl’s second day on the job where he took over cooking duties for Shampoo while she went off on deliveries. There was some brief friction between the two given their first encounter, but generally they were neutral towards each other.

“So, you’re back again.”

“Nice to see you too Mousse.” Videl greeted.

“I must admit, I didn’t expect you to endure the old mummy’s training for this lon-!”

“Mousse have no time to talk to Flying Girl! Get back to work!” Shampoo chastised. “Flying Girl hurry and put uniform on! Nekohanten extremely busy today!”

“Extremely…?”

Videl paused as the sounds of commotion filled her ears. Opening the door to the restaurant, her eyes widened as every table in the establishment was filled to capacity.

“What…what the hell is going on!?” Videl exclaimed.

“Apparently, word spread that we got a ‘cute new waitress’ and every young man within the city limits wanted to see for themselves,” answered Cologne who hopped in out of nowhere.

“Wait…do they mean me!?” Videl asked.

“Worry about your reputation later. Right now, all three of you get to work! We have to clear this place!” Cologne ordered.

Shampoo quickly gathered up a large box of food and strapped it to her bike before riding off while Mousse hurried back to the kitchen.

Videl could only look on in imminent dread as Cologne tossed her the uniform. ‘I don’t see this ending well.’

[Some time later]

_Videl could be seen standing side by side the one and only great Saiyaman before a crowd of countless spectators at the World Martial Arts Tournament. The beloved duo fist bumped before each of them took a fighting stance._

_“You better not go easy on me just because I’m a girl!” Videl shouted to her opponent. The opponent in question stepped forth revealing himself to be none other than Ryoga Hibiki, who had somehow miraculously arrived on the scene._

_“I don’t have time to waste with you,” said a dismissive Ryoga._

_A determined look in Videl’s eye, she quickly darted at Ryoga who poised to launch a counterstrike. With a single palm strike to the gut, Videl was launched far back and into the spectator stands with a loud, defeaning…_

**_CRASHH…!!_ **

“Wha-!? OOF!”

Rubbing her sore spot, Videl shakily picked herself up, and quickly realized that she was in fact NOT fighting Ryoga at a Tournament, but was instead in class at Orange Star High, and all eyes were on her.

The teacher at the front of the classroom let out a sigh. “Videl, I’m sure you’re very busy what with helping out the police and whatnot, but please, try to do your best to get the proper rest at night so then you won’t have to do it here in class, okay?”

A furiously flushing Videl sat back in her seat as more than a few chuckles emanated from some other students. All it took was a single glare from the Champ’s daughter to shut them all up.

“Okay students back to work,” The teacher instructed.

Once the teacher went back to his lecture, Gohan leaned over to Videl and whispered, “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” she replied.

“What happened girl?” Erasa interjected. “It’s not like you to fall asleep like this, no matter how boring this class is.”

“It’s nothing, just up later than usual,” Videl dismissed.

“But Videl…”

“You three! Quiet!” the teacher reprimanded him.

Gohan, Videl and Erasa, silenced themselves, but eyes were still on Videl.

“Videl, be honest. What’s really going on?” Gohan whispered. “Does this have to do with your special training?”

Videl flinched as the events from yesterday replayed in her mind.

_[Yesterday Evening]_

_The Cat Café was in total disarray. As if the large crowd of customers wasn’t bad enough, they all started getting testy due to Videl’s slow service. The icing on the cake however was all the lecherous stares and comments Videl kept receiving. Her uniform wasn’t overtly alluring or anything of the sort but given that many of the customers were boys from Furinkan High, they were pretty easily pleased. Things only got worse as many of them recognized her as Mr. Satan’s daughter and the already insane workload became all but asinine as many more patrons flooded the restaurant._

_Determined not to let the workload overwhelm her, Videl began waiting tables at a faster than previous, but still rather slow pace. It took a lot more effort on her part for her to move even the slightest bit faster, but she managed to fight through the strain…for about a couple of hours or so._

_On her way to serve up another order, Videl’s body finally gave in and she crashed to the floor, the food she was carrying spilling out everywhere._

_With a sigh, a disappointed looking Cologne quickly replaced the discarded food and served up the customer, before bounding over to Videl._

_“Perhaps this was a bit too much for a newbie.” Cologne thought aloud._

_Even after getting the choker removed, Videl was unable to pick herself off the floor. Every ounce of energy in her body had been spent and soon she began to feel faint. A short few seconds later, her consciousness faded._

_Before Cologne could call for someone to help Videl off the floor, a familiar face entered the Cat Café in the form of Akane, who gasped at the scene of Videl on the floor._

_“Videl! Cologne what happened!?”_

_“Nothing much, the poor girl just wore herself out. Not surprising really, I mean have you seen this place today?” said Cologne. “Regardless, take her upstairs. Let her rest for now and when she wakes up, tell her I’d like to have a word with her.”_

_[End Flashback]_

Videl tensed as she remembered the disappointed look on Cologne’s face when she woke up, as well as what she said afterwards.

_“You exceeded my pretty low expectations from you, but given all your big talk, I’d have thought you’d last a little longer than this.”_

Still, she tried her best to assure Gohan that she was fine. “I may have gone a bit overboard but trust me, it’s nothing I can’t handle.”

Gohan nodded his acceptance, but somewhere deep in the back of his mind he had a feeling that things weren’t as fine as Videl tried to make them out to be.

[After School]

Videl once again headed to the roof and took off into the sky. Unbeknownst to her however, a certain half Saiyan watched her take flight from the roof.

‘There’s something Videl’s not telling me.’ Gohan thought.

Staying behind until Videl was out of eyeshot, Gohan popped his costume on and ascended into the air himself and followed far behind her above the clouds to keep himself out of sight, keeping track of her by sensing her energy.

‘I have to admit, I feel a little guilty about spying on her like this…but I’ve got a feeling in my gut that says I should keep an eye on her.

 Gohan’s continued to shadow Videl until he finally saw her descend.

‘Where’s she going?’

Landing on a nearby rooftop, Gohan discarded his costume as he watched Videl run up the sidewalk and stop in front of a building.

“Cat Café? Does that mean it’s a restaurant?” Gohan thought. “She said she was training for her match, so why would she come to a restaurant right after school?” Gohan continued to think up possibilities as he tried to figure out his next move. Both confronting her directly and continuing to stay hidden had their share of pros and cons, but Gohan was at a bit of a loss on what to do next.

“What are you doing?”

“GAAAAAH!”

A male voice startled Gohan out of his thoughts and nearly spooked him off the roof. Regaining his balance, Gohan turned around to come face to face with, “Ranma?”

“Yo!”

“What are you doing here?”

“That’s my line, cause last I checked, you don’t live in this town,” Ranma replied.

“Well…Videl’s been acting a little strange lately and I wanted to find out why so I…kind of…”

“So you’re spying on her.” Ranma plainly stated.

“NO-! Yeah…maybe…” Gohan shamefully admitted. “Well…she used to spy on me when she was trying to find out who Saiyaman was…so this makes us even…right!?”

Ranma only stared at Gohan with a blank, confused expression. “Dude, I have no idea what you’re talkin’ about…”

“Right of course, you wouldn’t know about that…” Gohan chuckled. “Ranma be honest. Does me spying on Videl make me a bad boyfriend?”

“Uhhh……?”

Ranma stammered as he hadn’t expected Gohan to just ask him that kind of question.

“I uh…can’t really say. I mean, normally it probably would be a bad thing…but if you’re just tryin ta look out for her then…I guess not…”

Gohan sighed. He didn’t know what to expect from Ranma, but he clearly didn’t want to hear ‘that’.

Ranma paused for a moment. “Gohan…when you said Videl was actin’ strange, strange like how?”

“Well, she would always come to school looking tired, leave me and our other friends as soon as school let out, and just earlier today, she fell asleep in class,” Gohan explained.

Despite the dismissive look on Ranma’s face, he too was curious as to what Videl was up to. The two boys turned back towards the Cat Café where they witnessed another familiar female face appear.

“Hey wait a sec, is that Akane?”

Sure enough, the foul tempered tomboy jogged up the street before dashing inside the Cat Café.

“I wonder if she’s meeting with Videl,” said Gohan.

“Wait, Videl went into the Cat Café?” asked Ranma.

“Yeah.”

Ranma’s face had a look of realization on his face. He wasn’t 100%, but he was sure he had an idea of what the girls were up to.

“I wonder....”

“Wonder what?”

“Gohan, wait here!”

“Hey wait!”

Gohan fruitlessly called after Ranma who bounded away onto the streets below.

_[Inside the Cat Café]_

“I have to admit, I didn’t think you’d be back again, especially after that performance yesterday,” said Cologne.

Videl stood firm, her uniform already on. “Hey, just because I overdid it yesterday doesn’t mean I’m gonna call it quits,” Videl exclaimed.

“Hmph, your stubborn nature reminds me so much of the bridegroom, it’s almost laughable,” Cologne chuckled. “Still, after your little ‘misstep’ yesterday, you’re going to have to really push yourself if you intend for me to keep this training going.”

“Speaking of, what is my current progress? And how much longer will I have to do this?”

“That all depends on you Cologne answered. “Although, I will say that you’re progressing much faster than I initially anticipated. If anything, you should be glad that your current skill level and familiarity with Ki control is making this proceed much smoother than someone who’s just getting started. It shouldn’t be too long before we can get to the practical portion of the training.”

Videl managed a prideful smile. It was rough, but it was reassuring to know that she was getting results…even if she didn’t really feel it.

“Just try not to overdo it again,” said Akane. “The last thing you want to do is sputter out when you’re this close to the next step.”

“Also, Flying Girl passing out create more work for Shampoo and Great Grandmother. It good for business but get annoying really quickly.”

“Okay, I get it. I’ll try to pace myself.” Videl proclaimed.

Unbeknownst to the four women, a pair of prying eyes and ears were listening in on their conversation. The Cat Café was currently ‘Closed for Lunch’ as it were, but that didn’t stop one Ranma Saotome from slinking his way through the still unlocked front door and eavesdropping on the girls’ conversation.

‘So that’s what’s goin’ on here. Videl’s been gettin’ trainin’ from the Old Ghoul,’ Ranma realized. ‘Wonder what kinda trainin’ they’ve been doing though…’

Ranma’s thoughts were interrupted as a pair of arms wrapped themselves around his waist causing him to let out a surprised and disgusted yelp.

“Oh Shampoo! At last we’re finally alone!” exclaimed Mousse.

“Put your glasses on stupid!” Ranma yelled kicking Mousse in the face.

The Male Amazon complied and his expression sorely soured as he took a fighting stance.

“Ranma Saotome!? What are you doing here!?”

“None of your business!”

“Ranma!”

The boy in question froze up as a familiar female voice called out his name, a feminine pair of arms threw themselves around his neck and a soft set of female assets pressed into his sides.

“S-Shampoo!?”

“I so glad you come to date Shampoo yes?”

“Th-that ain’t why I’m here!” Ranma declined.

“Then by all means…ENLIGHTEN US!” came the furious voice of Akane who proceeded to toss a bucket of water over Ranma and Shampoo.

“KYAAAAAAAAA!”

[Meanwhile]

As Gohan waited on the foor for Ranma to return, his expression perked up as the sound of a shrill shriek filled his ears. ‘Was that a scream? What the heck’s going on in there!?’ Wasting no more time, Gohan hopped off the roof and hurried over to the Cat Café.

[Back in the Cat Café]

Female Ranma proceeded to dart around the restaurant in a fearful frenzy as the now cat Shampoo remained attached to her face, much to the confusion of the spectating Videl.

“Akane, what’s wrong with Ranma?”

“Never mind that, just get some hot water!” Cologne ordered.

Though still confused, Videl simply complied and darted back into the kitchen.

After a few moments of darting back and forth around the restaurant, Ranma finally managed to peel Shampoo off her face and toss her away.

“Shampoo! I’ll save you!” called Mousse.

In an attempt to capture the flying kitten, Mousse proceeded to launch a pair of chains at the Jusenkyo cursed animal. However, his glasses having been knocked off earlier following Ranma’s initially fearful outburst, Mousse’s attempt was less than successful. Completely missing Shampoo, Mousse’s chains instead shot over to the approaching Videl who had returned with a kettle of water.

“WHAAAAA-!”

As Videl stumbled over Mousse’s chains, the kettle flew out of her hands, ironically, in the same direction as Shampoo.

In the next moment, a boy with spiky black hair burst through the door. “What’s happen-!?” Before he could finish his question, a tiny purple kitten dropped into his hands, followed by a sizable splash of warm water.

A now scarlet faced Gohan could only stammer incoherently as a curvaceous, busty, and _very_ naked girl with purple hair suddenly appeared in his arms.

“AIYAAAAAAAHH!!!”

“GYAGHHHHHHHHH!!!”

**_(A/N: This chapter was surprisingly easy to write. I guess this is what happens when your motivation is just surging. So, Videl’s training starts to A.) Bare fruit and B.) Take its tolls and Gohan the ever-protective boyfriend returns to action only to come face to face with a scene more bizarre than anything he’s ever seen before, and the kid’s been to outer space before. Next time, the Nerima ward gets properly introduced to everyone’s favorite half Saiyan as the training continues)_ **

**PS: At the time of this chapter being uploaded, my birthday will have just passed earlier in the week so…Happy Belated Birthday to me!**

 


	24. Chaotic Cat Cafe

** My Life’s Stranger Than Yours **

An Unexpected Guest: The Chaotic Cat Cafe

Following a pair of ear-piercing shrieks, a trickle of blood fell from Gohan’s nose as Shampoo covered her intimate areas with her hands. Time all but froze as the next sound to fill the room was a yell of “Gohan!? What the hell are you doing here!?”

Gohan very slowly turned his head until he was face to face with none other than Videl who looked a mixture of shocked and furious.

“I-uh…!-I-….” Gohan’s scarlet face continually shifted from Shampoo to Videl as he attempted to come up with an intelligible answer.

“STOP LOOKING AT HER!”

“Eep! I’m sorry!” almost instinctively, Gohan tossed Shampoo into the air, causing her to shriek. Realizing what he’d just done, Gohan quickly prepared to catch Shampoo again, but Ranma quickly beat him to it, grabbing Shampoo in the air and covering her with her shirt.

“Oh Ranma! You save Shampoo from pervert guest!” Shampoo cooed while snuggling against a still female Ranma’s neck.

Before either Akane or Ranma could respond, an irate Mousse sprang in out of seemingly nowhere and immediately bore down on the still flustered Gohan.

“How dare you lay your lecherous fingers on the woman who is to be my wife, you FIEND!!!???”

A pair of blades springing from the sleeves of his robe, Mousse swan dived towards Gohan slashing his weapons in a cross pattern. Still not understanding what was happening, Gohan did the only sensible thing and rolled away from Mousse’s attack. With a determined growl, Mousse sprang back at Gohan, preparing to strike again, but was quickly disarmed when he dashed face first into a splash of cold water.

Gohan’s previous fluster was replaced with confusion as the bespectacled boy who attacked him was subsequently replaced with a furiously quacking duck.

‘What just happened?’ Gohan’s thoughts were interrupted by the raspy voice of an elderly woman.

“I think that’s quite enough excitement for now,” said Cologne who was holding a bucket. “Now, who may I ask are you?” she said turning to Gohan.

“I-agh!!” The overwhelmed Saiyan was unable to respond as he felt a sharp pain in his ear.

“Excuse us Cologne, but I’D like to have a word with him first!” Videl demanded.

“Very well, but make it snappy,” Cologne conceded.

Videl proceeded to drag Gohan by the ear into the back room, Cologne watching with a small chuckle. “She’ll have to properly introduce us a little later. In the meantime, Shampoo, why don’t you prepare some lunch for those two while Mousse and I prepare to open up.”

Cologne exited the room with Duck-Mousse in hand while the trio of girls shot each other a set of intrigued looks. ‘Subtly slipping over to the kitchen door and cracking it open, they peered inside, and spotted Videl with her arms crossed, eyes narrowed at Gohan who was rubbing his ear, while he wiped his nose with a napkin.

‘Man, Gohan’s about to get a thrashing, isn’t he?’ Ranma thought.

‘Videl always spoke so highly of Gohan, but what does she do when he actually does something wrong?’ Akane wondered.

Shampoo stayed silent and merely continued to glare at Gohan.

[With Gohan and Videl]

“Okay Gohan, now that we’re alone, do you want to explain what you’re doing here?” Videl demanded.

“Oh you know just…flying around.” Gohan shakily chuckled.

“Oh really? Flying around? Then would you care to explain how your little casual flight led you to here which is like, two districts away from Satan City?” Videl added.

“I…was looking for a bite to eat?”

Videl placed a hand to her forehead and shook her head in disbelief. “Wow Gohan…I think your lying skills have actually gotten worse.”

Gohan placed a hand behind his head and sighed. “You’re probably right.”

“Just admit it Gohan. You were spying on me, weren’t you?”

“Spying on you?”

“Were you?”

“Ehh…maybe…?”

Videl’s eyes narrowed.

“Yes…” Gohan admitted in defeat.

“Okay, now that we got that out of the way, WHY were you spying on me?”

“Well-I…”

“No, no, don’t tell me. I already know. This is about the whole falling asleep in class thing, isn’t it?” Videl snapped raising an eyebrow.

“Well…kind of,” Gohan replied.

“I knew it,” Videl sighed. “Look Gohan, I appreciate your concern, really I do, but I told you I could handle it.”

“I know, I know, and it’s not that I didn’t trust you or anything it’s just…”

“Just what?” Videl snapped.

“…you kind of have a habit of biting off more than you can chew…” Gohan slowly admitted.

“Name one time,” Videl challenged.

“What about that hijacked bus that rolled off a cliff?” Gohan responded. Videl’s face lit up a light red as Gohan continued. “Or that burning building where the water tower almost collapsed? Or…that time at the W-!”

“Okay, okay, you’ve made your point, you can stop now!” Videl cut him off. Though still less than pleased, Videl’s expression notably softened and she let out a sigh.

“Videl, I’m sorry for not having more faith in you, but I just felt that under the circumstances, you might’ve needed my help…is all,” Gohan apologized.

“Again, I _do_ appreciate your concern, but that still doesn’t give you the right to spy on me though!”

“But…didn’t you used to spy on me when I first came to school?” Gohan reminded her.

“Uhhhh…” Videl’s face flashed a bright red as she recalled the various times she had chased Gohan, both as Saiyaman and in his civvies, around the city.

“I…you uh…W-we-well…we weren’t even together back then so…” Videl let out a defeated sigh. “Okay, you got me there, but my point still stands.”

“Yeah I know…If anything, I guess this just makes us even,” Gohan chuckled.

Videl couldn’t help but grin herself. “Yeah, I guess.”

Back in the doorway, the trio of spies all looked on in interest as Videl and Gohan ended their argument and seemed to be making up, judging by how they were giggling.

“It doesn’t look like she’s mad anymore,” Ranma whispered.

“I’m glad things are looking okay for them,” Akane added.

“Shampoo still think she be too easy on pervert guest.”

“Sooo…does this mean I’m not in trouble?” Gohan asked.

“…Not completely,” Videl answered, her tone darkening. “I can forgive the spying Gohan…” she said taking a step towards him. “But don’t think I’ve forgotten about the ‘other’ thing.”

Gohan instinctively retreated as Videl inched closer and closer, a silent fury etched into her features. The now red-faced Gohan proceeded to play dumbe. “Wha-what are you talking about Videl?...”

“Do you remember a girl with purple hair?”

The deepening of red on Gohan’s face was all the answer Videl needed.

“Hmph, now pervert guest get what he deserve,” Shampoo quietly cheered.

“Well said my love,” commented Mousse.

“All in all, I think we’re in for a pretty good show,” added Cologne.

The three girls quickly whipped around to see the spectacled boy as the tiny elder landed promptly on Ranma’s head. “Mousse? Cologne? When did you two get here?” asked Akane.

“Just now.”

“Well, glad you’re enjoying the little show,” Ranma said through grit teeth. “But could ya do me a favor and GET OFFA ME!”

Ranma grabbed for Cologne, but the experienced Amazon hopped away from her hand and knocked her onto the floor.

Following the noise, a now startled Gohan and Videl turned towards the door to find a group of eavesdroppers.

“Ranma? Akane? Shampoo!?”

“Ohh…hey guys, what’s up?” Ranma stammered.

“Sorry to interrupt, but you two had a few flies on the wall, or more accurately through the door,” Cologne snickered.

“How long were you guys standing there?” asked Gohan.

“Well Mousse and I just got here. These three on the other hand…” Cologne answered.

The two went red as irritation (for Videl at least) and embarrassment quickly sound themselves spreading throughout the young couple.

“Well, regardless, if you two are finished, I’d like to get formally acquainted with our new guest here if that’s no problem,” requested Cologne.

Videl shot Gohan a knowing look that said, ‘Don’t think you’re off the hook’ before clearing her throat and proceeding to introduce the two. “Okay. Ranma and Akane already know who he is but, Cologne, Shampoo, this is my boyfriend Gohan. Gohan, this is Cologne, who’s been training me for the past few days and her granddaughter Shampoo.”

“Nihao,” Cologne said through narrowed eyes.

Shrinking under Shampoo’s gaze, Gohan hesitantly, but politely bowed as he greeted them. “Uhhh…it’s nice to meet you.”

“Well…he’s certainly a well-mannered fellow, I’ll give him that,” Cologne said with a grin.

“So guest is Flying Girl boyfriend…Shampoo remember she mention him when we fight before.”

“Wait, you two fought? Who won?” asked Ranma.

“It was a draw on account of curses,” Akane answered.

Seeing the confused look on Gohan’s face, Akane quickly explained, “Oh yeah, in case you haven’t figured it out yet, Mousse and Shampoo have the same kind of curse as Ranma, only with animals.”

“Ohhh…”

“Man, I hate when that happens…” Ranma groaned. “Speaking of…” Ranma quickly darted to the sink to grab a glass of hot water as Cologne continued on.

“I must say, it’s an honor to meet the son of the infamous Son Goku.”

Gohan’s eyes widened. “Wait…you know my father!?”

“Not personally, only through the grapevine. After all, he is the star pupil of the Turtle Hermit.”

“You know Master Roshi too?”

“Again, only through reputation.”

“Wow…if you know about Dad and the others, you must be a pretty talented martial artist yourself,” complimented Gohan.”

“Ohohoho, you flatterer,” Cologne grinned. “Still, you shouldn’t sell yourself short boy.  Anyone who has Kame-Sennin under their belt has to be pretty impressive themselves.”

“Well…” Gohan bashfully placed a hand behind his head at Cologne’s words. His unease only grew once Cologne darted past Cologne and invaded Gohan’s personal space, giving him a once-over.

“Hmmm…” The blushing Gohan could only sheepishly chuckle as Shampoo continued to inspect him.

“Find what you’re looking for Shampoo?” Videl asked sardonically.

“Shampoo not see what make Rice Boy so special,” she stated dryly.

“Excuse me?” Videl snapped.

“Shampoo admit, he not bad looking, but he not look very strong. The way Flying Girl describe him, Shampoo expectations were high.”

“Well what _were_ you expecting?” Videl hissed.

“I not know, but definitely not skinny pervert guest,” Shampoo replied.

Ranma chuckled when Gohan’s face became a scarlet hue due to a mix of shame and embarrassment at Shampoo’s nickname. “P-pervert guest?”

Videl clenched her fist and rebutted “Hold on! I get that you’re upset, and you have the right to be, but you do NOT get to talk about Gohan like that!”

“Videl, calm d-!” Gohan tried to ease his rapidly raging girlfriend, but to no avail as she cut him off and continued to retaliate.

“He’s probably the least perverted boy out there! Hell, he barely even looks at _me_ like that,” her eye very faintly twitched at that statement and her expression briefly switched from blind rage to almost envy before landing back to anger. “If anything, isn’t it more your fault for not being able to keep your clothes on?” Videl shot back.

Akane couldn’t hold in her snickers as Shampoo’s face flashed a brief tint of red. “Aiyaaa! Shampoo can no help that curse make her too small to wear clothes!”

“Uhhh Videl, I appreciate you trying to defend me, but I think you should take it easy now,” Gohan placed a hand on her shoulder attempting to ease her back.

Her eyes narrowed, Shampoo quickly attached herself to Ranma’s arm. “Well Shampoo bet he no match for Ranma. Even Mousse look like better martial artist.” She declared.

“Oh Shampoo!” “Put your glasses on fool!”

While Mousse was getting beaten and berated by Cologne for his blind antics, Ranma interjected. “Whoa Shampoo. I mean you’re not wrong when you say I could beat Gohan but saying Mousse could beat him is just a low blow. He’s WAY stronger than that.”

“Screw you Saotome!” Mousse yelled while flipping off a stool.

“Ranma, should you really be making claims like that considering what happened when we visited Gohan’s house the other day?” Akane quietly reminded him.

Ranma’s flinched as the memory of his fight with Goten resurfaced, and he remembered that if Goten was that strong, then it was very likely that Gohan was much stronger.

“Oh? What pray tell happened that day Akane Tendo?” asked an eavesdropping Mousse who finally had his glasses back on.

Before anyone could answer, Ranma quickly threw a glass of water onto Mousse and chucked him out of the back door as a trail of feathers floated down.

“Aiyaaa! Ranma, why you throw Mousse away! Shampoo need him to prove point!” the purple haired girl whined.

‘I’m starting to see why Ukyo doesn’t like her,’ Videl thought. “Prove what? Gohan would’ve won anyway.”

Shampoo crossed her arms and mildly conceded. “Maybe you right, but there no way he beat Ranma.”

“Oh please, Ranma couldn’t even beat Gohan’s little brother. He wouldn’t stand a chance against Gohan himself.”

**_STAB!_ **

As soon as the words left Videl’s mouth, Ranma grasped at his chest and fiercely twitched letting out a pained yelp.

“Ranma, what Flying Girl talking about?” asked Shampoo.

“LEAVE ME ALONE!!” Ignoring Shampoo’s question, an anguished Ranma detached himself from her and made a swift exit from the Cat Café.

“Aiyaaaa! Ranma, why you run?” Shampoo called chasing after him.

Following Ranma’s dramatic exit the rest of the crew were left dumbfounded. “What was that all about?” asked Gohan.

“Just Ranma’s sad attempt to protect his ego,” replied Akane.

“Remind me to ask you to elaborate on that Ms. Tendo,” said Cologne. “Still, it’s a shame Ranma flew the coop like that. I was starting to look forward to a match between him and Gohan over here.

“Well, sorry to disappoint you,” Gohan meekly chuckled.

“What’s done is done, but back to business, it’s time to resume Videl’s training,” said Cologne.

Gohan perked up at Cologne’s words. In all the crazy excitement, he’d almost forgotten why he had come in the first place. “That reminds me, if you don’t mind my asking, what kind of training were you and Videl doing?”

Cologne sighed as she began her explanation. “To make a long story short, I’m teaching Videl a technique that could help her in her upcoming bout with Ryoga.”

“What technique?” asked Gohan.

“It’s called the ‘Point of Impact,” Cologne answered. “If you wish to know more, I’m sure she or Akane will be able to give you the more explicit details. The point is, before she can learn it, she needed to raise her Ki.” Cologne paused, bringing out the choker. “Which is where this baby comes in.”

Hopping over Videl, Cologne attached the choker to her neck and the weight of the uniform instantly fell over her, causing her to stumble over, but not to fall.

“Videl, are you okay!?” called the ever concerned Gohan, rushing to her side.

“I’m fine…” Videl strained, waving Gohan off.

“Ms. Cologne, what’s happening?”

“No one wants to sit through my full explanation again, so I’ll just say it’s weight training to the extreme. You build your body to build your ki, and the higher your ki, the lighter the uniform that Videl’s wearing feels.”

“Weighted clothing? Huh, my dad used to do that too, my old teacher still does.” Gohan noted.

“It’s a simple method yes, but it’s nonetheless effective. This uniform in particular is designed intently for raising a beginner’s basic level of ki.”

Gohan gave an impressed hum as Cologne removed the choker. In that moment however, Shampoo burst back into the room in a huff. “Great-Grandmother! We have many customers waiting in dining room!”

Sure enough, while the martial artists were having their conversation, the Cat Café was filling up with guests at an almost scheduled pace.

“Wait a sec, why’re they coming in? I could’ve sworn I set the sign to closed!” Cologne exclaimed.

“Raaaanmaaaa…” Akane growled.

Cologne sighed. “Well whether he did or not, what’s done is done.” She then turned to Gohan. “I’m afraid we’ll have to finish this discussion some other time. It’s time for us to get to work.”

“No worries. I can see that you’re probably going to be busy for a while,” Gohan chuckled.

“You know Gohan, why don’t you get something to eat before you go. This _is_ a restaurant after all,” Videl said with an unreadable glimmer in her eyes.

“Is…that okay?”

“As long as you pay for it like any other customer, it doesn’t matter to me,” Cologne replied.

“You just let me cover the costs Cologne. Gohan, you just enjoy and order as much as you want,” Videl said in a nearly forced sweet tone.

Gohan was visibly cautious of Videl’s tone. She almost never acts or sounds this docile (not even in their most private moments…not that private ya pervs!) unless she’s trying to send an unspoken message. His suspicions were confirmed with a small wink accompanied by a nerve easing smile.

“Well, if you say it’s okay, then I guess I’ll go for it.”

“Great. Hey Akane, if you’re interested, your food’s on me too.”

“Oh…sure, why not,” Akane accepted.

“Well Shampoo, guess we’d better get started,” Videl cheerfully proclaimed before heading back into the kitchen for some supplies.

A bead of sweat fell down the Amazon’s faces as Videl strolled away. “Flying girl look extra happy today,” stated Shampoo.

“Well, I guess having her fella here gave her a bit of extra motivation. Still, she has the right idea, let’s get to work Shampoo.” Cologne ordered.

Akane watched the workers disappear with a similarly confused expression. She had a gut feeling Videl was up to something, she just couldn’t place it yet. Oh well, no sense in turning down a free lunch. Her spirits also heightened, Akane grabbed Gohan by the arm and pulled him away.

“C’mon, let’s grab a table before they’re all taken.”

[A few minutes later]

The Cat Café staff was in high gear as Shampoo prepared order after order and quickly shoved a bulk of them off to Videl who proceeded to stroll around the restaurant as fast as her tied down body could carry her.

“Hey Videl?” Gohan called out.

“Sorry GOhan, but I’m kinda busy right now. I’ll get to you two in a bit!” Videl quickly replied before strolling away.

“Is it always like this in here?” Gohan asked Akane.

“Sometimes, but it usually only gets this crazy whenever this place gets a cute new waitress,” Akane crossed her arms.

“Cute new waitress…?” Gohan turned back to see Videl sluggishly, yet vigorously dash around the Cat Café lugging a large plate of food around, Now that he wasn’t wracked with worry and small bits of guilt, Gohan was able to get a full body view of Videl in her uniform and if nothing else, the fancy Chinese style was a nice departure from her usual sporty attire. Plus, the ramen that Videl was serving up looked and smelled _very_ appetizing.

“Uhh Gohan…I think you’re staring,” Akane commented.

With a fierce twitch, Gohan’s face become a darker red as he turned back to Akane.

“N-n-no I wasn’t!” Gohan defensively stammered.

“I’m prett sure you were staring at Videl pretty hard…” Akane added with a raised eyebrow.

“I…wasn’t staring I was just…wondering what to order?”

‘He really is a terrible liar,’ thought Akane.

“Anyways…since we have a bit of time before Videl comes back, there’s actually something I’m curious about,” said Gohan.

“What is it?”

“Why’d Ranma take off like that?” asked Gohan.

Akane let out a sigh as she dismissively shook her head. “He’s just all embarrassed because your brother beat him.”

“Really?”

Akane nodded. “To be completely fair, I can’t really blame him. I mean, sure Ranma is very egotistical, but who wouldn’t be embarrassed losing to a little kid?”

“I guess.”

“The thing is, he doesn’t want it getting out because there are a lot of people around town who’d probably use that to try and get to him,” she continued. ‘I may be using it to keep him in line, but it’s not like I’m blackmailing him or anything,’ Akane mentally added.

“In that case, we should probably let Videl know,” Gohan proclaimed.

“Let Videl know what?” Almost on cue, Videl appeared beside Gohan and Akane’s table, an eyebrow raised.

“Videl, when’d you get here?” asked Gohan.

“Just now, and my question is, what are you supposed to let me know?”

Akane pulled Videl down and quickly whispered into her ear. A few seconds later, her expression perked up “Oh! Okay, I got it, though next time, let me know this stuff ahead of time okay?”

“Sure thing,” Akane replied.

Clearing her throat, Videl then put on a genuine server’s smile and said in an almost comically sweet voice, “Nihao, welcome to the Cat Café. May I take your order?”

Redness once again tinted Gohan’s face as he was once again caught off guard by Videl’s excessively sweet act. Unlike before though, he felt sincerity in her tone.

“Well, looks like someone’s finally got the right motivation on the waitress side of this gig,” Cologne interjected out of nowhere.

“Right…well then I guess I’ll take two of these.” Gohan pointed out a large order of ramen, rice and meat buns, causing Cologne’s eyes to widen.

“Well, I see someone doesn’t play around when it comes to cuisine.”

‘You don’t know the half of it,’ thought Akane.

“What about you Akane?”

“Guess I’ll take the same, but only one and a smaller portion.”

“Coming right up.”

Videl then strolled off to the counter and delivered the order to Shampoo before heading back into the kitchen to grab some completed orders for other guests. Speaking of those other guests, many of the young male ones could only look on dumbfounded as to why this new guy who nobody recognized as a regular was getting the special treatment. The young female guests were just curious as to what the connection between the cute new guy and the new waitress was.

‘Why was she so nice to him?’

‘Do they know each other?’

‘Think they’re dating?’

Absentmindedly, Gohan once again turned his eyes to Videl’s retreating form. Between the fairly enticing uniform and the waitress act, it was getting continually more difficult for Gohan to tear his gaze away.

“Couldn’t resist the sight of your lady in our uniform eh?” snickered Cologne. Akane couldn’t help but giggle as Gohan’s face became cherry red at Cologne’s provocation.

Attempting to stop the two women laughing at him, Gohan decided to suddenly switch the topic over at his and Akane’s table. “So…Videl’s training is waiting in weighted clothes?”

“In a nutshell yes,” Cologne answered. “It may be menial, but whatever works works.”

“No kidding. Compared to how she was when she started this thing, it looks like things are actually progressing rather well,” commented Akane.

“That’s something of an understatement Ms. Tendo. Despite that small roadblock yesterday, she’s actually improving quicker than I initially anticipated.” Said Cologne.

“No surprise here,” Gohan interjected. “She was able to master flying in only a week and a half, and she was able to get off the ground on her first day.” Gohan recalled.

“That _is_ impressive,” Cologne admitted.

Before the three could continue, the object of their discussion suddenly reappeared, with food in hand.

“Wow, that was quick,” Gohan noted.

“Fast food, am I right?” Videl winked.

Cologne’s eyes lightly narrowed. “I’m going to pretend you didn’t just say that.”

Placing the food before her two customers, Videl let out a pleasant, “Enjoy,” Before excusing herself back to the kitchen.

“Guess I’ll leave you two alone for the time being, and again enjoy.” Cologne said before dismissing herself.

“Well, you heard them Gohan, dig in!”

“Alright!”

The two both took a single bite of their dishes and Akane halted as she watched Gohan’s eyes light up like flash.

‘So THIS is what Videl was after!’ Akane finally realized.

In the next instance, Gohan’s consumption quickly sped up. In less than two minutes later, Gohan’s bowl was emptied while Akane’s was still mostly full.

“That was really good!” Gohan complimented.

When Gohan started on his second bowl, again almost on cue, Videl appeared before their table with her waitress face on. “Are you enjoyed your meal?”

“Yeah, I am.” Gohan enthusiastically replied.

“Can I get you anything else?”

“How about five more of these please?”

“Only five? Wow Gohan, you must not be all that hungry,” Videl said dropping the waitress act.

“Well, I have to save some room for dinner, right?” he chuckled.

“Fair enough,” Videl grinned. “I’ll get right on it.”

“Oh wait, I also wanna try out the dumplings so five orders of those too and three orders of subuta (sweet and sour pork).

“Coming right up!” Videl said pleasantly. Retreating back to the kitchen, a mischievous grin found itself plastered on Videl’s face as she handed the order over to Shampoo.

“Aiyaaaaaaaa!” she shrieked.

“Well, it looks like you’ve got quite a bit of work to do, don’t you?” Videl taunted.

Shampoo shot Videl a light glare as she exited the kitchen with another set of orders in hand. “Shampoo no let Flying Girl make fool of Shampoo!”

Cracking her knuckles, Shampoo swiftly got to work preparing Gohan’s order.

[Several minutes later]

Videl returned to the kitchen to see Shampoo panting before a large plate that was stacked to the brim with large bowls and containers for the more ‘finger food’ dishes.

Quickly fixing her composure, Shampoo crossed her arms before giving Videl a smug look accompanied by an, “Order up Flying Girl.”

To the Amazon’s surprise, Videl looked not the least bit worried with the oversized serving. Even under the still restricting weight of the uniform, Videl proceeded with confidence as she lifted the large server’s plate with both arms and proceeded to make her way out of the kitchen at a slower than normal, but still brisk pace.

Before she stepped through the door however, Videl turned back and winked to her coworker. “Thanks for the assistance Shampoo.”

The purple haired Amazon could only look on in confusion as Videl went off to deliver the food.

[Shortly later]

The patrons of the Cat Café looked in absolute awe as the guy who was getting all the TLC from the cute new waitress proceeded to wolf down a meal that could very easily belong to a small family. Thankfully, Gohan was mannered enough to keep himself and his surroundings clean while eating so thankfully, none of the onlookers seemed to be disgusted at least. Even Cologne, who was used to seeing big appetites with the likes of Ranma, his father and Ryoga couldn’t help but stare wide-eyed as Gohan devoured his ramen like a starving dog.

Unable to watch Gohan anymore, Cologne turned her attention to Videl who was off to the side panting. The flow of the restaurant had slowed to a crawl once all the attention was on Gohan, so Videl had a rare opportunity to catch her breath, and after that massive order she had to deliver, she needed it.

Cologne couldn’t help but chuckle. “So she used that boyfriend of hers to earn a point in her little ‘scuffle’ with Shampoo, and amp up her own training regimen at the same time. I’ll admit it, with the proper training, she could really pass for an Amazon.”

Turning her attention back to Gohan, Cologne’s expression darkened. ‘However, if we run out of ingredients because of that boy, don’t think that I won’t hesitate to give you a piece of my mind!’ she mentally declared.

[Shortly later]

Gohan had finished eating with an extra satisfied look on his face. Once the ‘show’ that Gohan was putting on had ended, the rest of the patrons returned to their own meals, some of them hungrier than ever while others seemed to have lost their appetites.

“Well, how was it?” asked Videl.

“It was really great!” Gohan replied.

“Well, I’m glad you enjoyed yourself,” Cologne chimed in hopping onto the table. “But I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to leave now. I’m sorry but if you decide to order anything else, I’m afraid we’ll run out of ingredients.”

“Oh don’t worry. I’m saving up room for dinner at home,” Gohan stated.

Cologne froze wide-eyed with shock at Gohan’s statement before dismissively shaking her head and sighing, “And here I thought Son-in-Law was insatiable.”

Cologne mounted her staff prepared to hop away, before she left however, she turned back to the three teenagers. “I have to say, meeting you has been something of an experience Son Gohan. I only hope that sometime soon, I’ll be able to see what an heir to the Kame-Style can do in battle.”

“Well…” Gohan awkwardly placed a hand behind his head. “I can’t make any promises, but I can say I’ll probably come back here at least…unless Videl objects.”

“It’s fine by me, but don’t think you’re fully off the hook, Gohan,” Videl sternly replied.

“Yes ma’am.”

“Well, if we’re all done talking now, Videl. Time to get back to work,” Cologne ordered before pogoing away.

“Well, I guess that’s that,” Videl sighed. “I’ll be done later tonight so we can finish talking then then,” Videl replied. “And again, don’t worry about the bill, it’s on me.”

“If you say so.” Gohan replied. “But what do I do until you’re finished?”

“You know Gohan, if you want to stick around town until Videl’s done here, why don’t you stay at our place for a little bit,” Akane suggested.

Gohan was slightly taken aback by the invitation and was a little hesitant to accept, until Videl spoke up.

“Hmm…sounds okay to me,” Videl agreed.

With a mental sigh of relief, Gohan responded, “Well, if you two are sure, then I guess I accept.”

“Then I guess it’s settled,” Videl nodded. “Keep an eye on him for me Akane.”

“Will do.”

“Hehe, am I a pet now?” Gohan chuckled.

Videl playfully rolled her eyes just as the two got up from the table.

“See you guys tonight.” Videl called.

“Okay, and thanks again,” Gohan responded. With that, Gohan and Akane left the Cat Café while more customers began to stroll in.

Meanwhile, on a nearby rooftop not far from the Cat Café, a certain bespectacled water-fowl narrowed its eyes at the half-saiyan. With an enraged ‘Quack!’, Duck-Mousse brandished a set of kunai knives from his feathers before laughing (honking) maniacally into the afternoon sky.

**_(A/N: Not much to say here other than this chapter was a headache to write. While I haven’t lost interest in this story, my motivation to write has been low lately. Maybe it’s because I’ve been playing Persona 5 on the side (started WAY before Joker got released in Smash), maybe it’s something else, but I’m finally back. So Gohan’s trip to Nerima begins with awkward introductions (and a narrow crisis aversion) at the Cat Café. Next time, he’ll get acquainted with more of Ranma’s regulars as he meets the Tendo/Saotome family and a certain male Amazon is out for payback)_ **

 


	25. Taking It Easy At Tendos'

** My Life’s Stranger Than Yours **

_ A Brief But Eventful Rest: Taking it Easy at the Tendo’s _

It had been 5 or so minutes since Akane and Gohan had left the Cat Café, the latter following behind Akane as she led him to her home.

“Are we there yet?” asked Gohan.

“Almost, just another block forward,” replied Akane.

Before long, the duo finally arrived at the Tendo Dojo, Akane letting out a satisfied sigh. “Finally, we’re here!”

As the two made their way to the entrance, Gohan paused and spoke up. “Hey Akane?”

“What is it?”

“If you don’t mind my asking, what’s your family like?”

Akane hesitated before shrugging. “Why don’t you just find out for yourself.” Taking Gohan by the arm, Akane pulled Gohan through the door and announced, “I’m home!” To her surprise however, she didn’t’ receive a response.

“Is…is anyone home?” Gohan asked.

“I’m…not sure,” Akane replied. The pair received their answer once they entered the living room and spotted a note on the table.

_“Ranma and Akane,_

_Nabiki and I are going shopping with Aunt Nodoka after she gets out from work. Father and Uncle Saotome have also gone out for the evening so you two will be alone for a while. We’ll be back soon, please try not to fight each other while we’re gone._

_-Kasumi”_

_P.S. Kasumi has some snacks prepared, so there’s no need to try and cook anything. We DON’T need another kitchen disaster like last time little sis._

_-Nabiki_

“Well…this was unexpected,” Akane said with a small twinge of irritation.

“What was?”

“It looks like everyone’s gone.”

“Aww, that’s too bad,” Gohan groaned. “I was looking forward to meeting your family.”

Akane shrugged. “Someone will probably be back soon enough.” ‘And given the record for when Ranma and I are alone, it’ll be at the worst possible time.’ “In the meantime, what do you wanna do?”

Gohan placed a hand to his chin in thought. “Well, now that I think about it, I do have some homework to finish.”

Akane pounded her palm with her fist. “Dang it. I just remembered I do too!”

“Well, I guess we’ll be studying together for now.”

“Sounds good to me. Be right back!”

[A few minutes later]

Gohan and Akane were seated around the living room table, various textbooks and papers scattered about, accompanied by a half-eaten plate of rice balls and tiny sandwiches. Gohan was working without much of a hitch but looked up from his book when he heard Akane let out a groan.

“Is something wrong?”

“I’m just having a bit of an issue with this problem here,” Akane said pointing to a page in the math book.

“Here, let me see…” stepping behind Akane to get a glance at her book, his eyes lit up. “Oh, I see the problem. You just have to…”

Gohan proceeded to explain Akane’s error, and after a couple of revised explanations, she finally understood. “Oh, I get it now!”

Gohan let out a chuckle as Akane excitedly wrote down her answer. “Geeze, that was a migraine and a half,” Akane groaned. “How’d you get it so easily? We’re not even doing the same subject right now?”

An almost uncharacteristically smug grin found its way onto Gohan’s face. “Well, I don’t mean to brag, but I do have a reputation for being the smartest kid in Orange Star High.”

“Is that a fact?” Akane said with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. Gohan replied with a simple chuckle as he reached for the plate of snacks. Unfortunately, his aim was a little off as he proceeded to knock the plate off of the table and spill its contents all over the floor and Akane.

“Ack!”

“Gah! I’m sorry, I swear that was an accident!” Gohan exclaimed.

“Don’t worry, it’s fine,” Akane shrugged off. “Just wait here while I go grab something to clean this mess up with.

Akane swiftly picked herself up off the floor, but before she could make her way to the kitchen, she was tripped up by her own bookbag causing her to tumble over.

“Watch out!” Gohan quickly got up and reached out an arm to catch her, but wound up tripping over Akane’s bag himself and the two fell down on the floor together.

[Meanwhile]

Unbeknownst to Akane and Gohan, in the rear of the Tendo Dojo, an irritated Ranma was muttering to himself while he drowned his frustration in a fierce rep of push ups, flips, and katas. “Damn kid…stupid Akane with her _‘Oh, remember wha happen!?’,_ and damn nosy Mousse. None of his damn business what-!”

Almost on cue, a shadow divebombed Ranma and launched a throwing knife at him. Thanks tp his sharp reflexes, Ranma was able to quickly dodge the projectile and snatch the shadow out of the air, revealing itself to be a duck wearing a pair of swirly glasses.

‘Speak of the devil…’ “Mousse, what the hell are you doing here?”

_“QUANK! HONK! QUACK!”_

“Oh right, you can’t speak. One sec.” Reaching into his shirt, Ranma pulled out a capsule and popped it open revealing a thermos. ‘Note to self, remember to thank Mom for this idea when ya see her again.’ Pouring its contents into the top, Ranma then poured the (scalding) hot water over Mousse transforming him back into human form.

“Eeeeeek! Did the water really have to be that hot Saotome!?”

“Quit yer complainin’, at least your human again. Now would ya care to explain why you’re hasslin’ me for this time?”

“Believe it or not Ranma Saotome, I have no quarrel with you this day. My anger is aimed at that miscreant who would dare lay his perverted hands on my Shampoo!” Mousse proclaimed.

Ranma looked to the sky in thought. “Why does it feel like we’ve been here before?”

[Elsewhere]

A tiny black piglet, in the arms of a girl with long dark hair let out a loud sneeze.

“Oh Ryoga, is that cold water getting to you?” the girl asked the piglet. “Don’t worry, there’s a public bath in town so we’ll have you warmed up and human again in no time!”

[Back with Ranma and Mousse]

“Look dude, do everyone here a favor and just let it go. In case you missed it, Gohan already has a girlfriend, and doesn’t like Shampoo like that, so you really have no reason to go after him,” Ranma stated.

“Be that as it may, I still can’t forgive him for defiling Shampoo the way he did. Not to mention your implication of him being stronger than me.” Mousse snapped back.

Ranma let out a chuckle before responding. “Okay, I’ll give you that last one, but even if you wanted to challenge him, unless he’s still at the Cat Café, I think you’re outta luck pal. Dude’s probably already gone home by now.”

“Not true. For I saw him leave the Cat Café together with Akane Tendo. If anyone knows where Rice Boy would be, it’s her. I’d ask his lady friend who’s training at the Cat Café, but I doubt she’d be too cooperative.”

Ranma did a double take at Mousse’s statement. “Wait, Gohan and Akane…together? Are you sure you didn’t just mistake them for some random couple on the street or somethin’?”

Mousse nodded. “I’m positive. I had my glasses on when I saw them leave, although I lost them when I happened to fly through a rather low cloud.”

Ranma crossed his arms. “Heh, even if they were together at the time, Gohan’s probably already gone home by now, and Akane’s not even home yet.”

“Hmmmm…you make a valid point. Still, if he is still in town, and with Akane Tendo, I do believe they’ll show up here sooner or later. I’ll depart for now Ranma, but I’ll be back.” Leaping over the dojo’s fence, Mousse then bounded away, his search prompt to resume.

Ranma sighed as he re-entered the dojo and sat cross legged on the floor, his encounter with Mousse all but killing his motivation to train. “Suit yourself, but I’m tellin’ ya you’re wasting your time. For all we know, Akane could be with her friends from school and Gohan could be five miles on his way home.” He thought aloud. Until…

_“Kyaaa!”_

“Huh? Who was that? Is everyone home already?”

Exiting the dojo, Ranma quickly made his way to the living room. “Yo, is anybody here? I thought I…heard…a…scream……”

Ranma’s speech slowed to a crawl as he witnessed a stunned Akane laying on top of a blushing Gohan.

“Wha…what’s goin’ on here?” asked a dumbfounded Ranma.

“R-Ranma!?” the pair simultaneously exclaimed.

“What are you doing here?” Gohan added.

“I live here. What are _you_ doing here and why is Akane on top of you!?” Ranma countered. His eyes then lit up as he let out a hysteric gasp. “No! Don’t tell me…! Akane, I can’t believe this!” Ranma cut her off. “I thought Videl was your friend, but here I find you puttin’ the moves on her boyfriend!”

Akane narrowed her eyes in shock before letting out a resounding “WHAT!?”

“Wait a sec Ranma, Akane wasn’t trying to-!” Gohan tried to explain.

Cutting him off, Ranma continued. “Are you really that desperate to feel sexy that you had to try and seduce a taken man!?”

With a fierce twitch in her eye, Akane swiftly removed herself from Gohan and darted at the smarmy Ranma who dodged her incoming attack.

“Raaaaanmaaaa! Get back here you jerk!” Akane demanded.

“Not until I tell Videl what you two have been up to!” Ranma countered flipping away from Akane’s follow-up strikes. Picking himself off the floor, Gohan followed after the pair as the chase continued until the duo wound up back into the dojo.

Akane grabbed a bamboo sword and continued her assault on the ever evasive Ranma. Her irritation reaching a fever pitch, Akane wound up, preparing what would’ve surely been a home-run swing, until Gohan quickly interjected. Warping in front of the two, he caught Akane’s sword with a single hand just as Ranma cartwheeled away and took a defensive stance.

“Ranma, you’ve got it all wrong!” Gohan quickly exclaimed. “Akane just tripped and I caught her, but we still fell!”

Dropping his stance, Ranma said in a gleefully dismissive tone, “Oh is that all it was? That’s a relief. For a sec or two, I thought you two were gearin’ up to go on a date or somethin’” Ranma chuckled.

“Hey, Akane’s a nice girl, but I’d never cheat on Videl with anyone.” Gohan said firmly

“Good on you for that pal, but why didn’t you just say somethin’ earlier?”

“You never gave us a chance to explain!” answered Gohan.

Ranma closed his eyes and put a hand to his chin in faux deep thought. “Hmmmm…not havin’ a chance to explain somethin’ that looks bad.” Opening one eye, he turned his attention to Akane with a smug grin and added, “Now why does _that_ sound so familiar?”

Akane’s face became a light red as she understood Ranma’s implications. Gohan on the other hand just watched the two with a look of confusion on his face. “Umm…am I missing something?”

“Don’t worry about it pal. All you need to know is I just gave Akane a taste of her own medicine. Sorry I kinda roped you into it though,” Ranma explained.

“A taste of her own…?”

“Don’t try and turn this on me!” Akane exclaimed.

“Hey, don’t get mad just cause you know how I feel when you do that crap to me!” Ranma shot back.

“That’s cause it’s always your fault!” Akane argued.

“It ain’t _ALWAYS_ my fault!”

“Name one time!”

“Okay…how bout that time when I had to hug anybody who sneezed!?”

“……Okay fine, you have one, but what about that time you tried to get frisky with our teacher!”

“You already know what I was tryin’ to do! I was tryin’ to hit her pressure points so she’d stop stealin’ everyone’s energy!”

The pair continued to go back and forth recounting many a time when Ranma was caught in a compromising position and disputing whether or not Ranma was truly at fault or not. Meanwhile off to the side, Gohan just continued to watch the heated exchange with worry and confusion on his features.

Deciding it’d probably be best to not intervene in their little debate, Gohan slowly backed away out of the dojo and quickly returned to the living room. He still needed to finish his homework, not to mention clean up the food that he’d spilled earlier. Upon his arrival however, he was surprised to find the food already cleaned up, and the papers that had been scattered were neatly stacked back onto the table as well.

“How’d this happen?” Gohan thought aloud.

Gohan received his answer when the sound of gentle humming filled his ears and he turned to find a ponytailed girl, who looked not too older than himself enter the room with a fresh plate of snacks in hand.

“Oh! I didn’t know we had a guest.”

“A guest?” said another female voice. An older (but still fairly young, yet mature) woman entered behind the girl and the two greeted Gohan with curious, but inviting expressions. Unbeknownst to the Saiyan however, a third female was viewing the scene from the staircase just a short distance away from the three. She’d join them soon to meet and greet their visitor, but before she did, a single surprising thought quickly flashed in her mind. ‘He’s kinda cute.’

[Meanwhile]

Back in the dojo, Ranma and Akane had carried on their argument through shouting and a second round of Ranma being chased by a bamboo sword wielding Akane. After numerous recounts and refutes of Ranma being the initiator of many of his compromising situations such as the Jusenkyo Spring in the girl’s locker room and the flirtatious clone of female Ranma, among others, the argument finally ended when Akane threw Ranma into the pond in the garden.

As Ranma angrily rang her shirt out, Akane let out a sigh of defeat. “You’ve made your point,” Akane muttered.

“What’s it…?”

“I said you’ve made your point!” Akane repeated. “I get it okay, I jump to conclusions a lot, I should listen to you first more, and I _totally_ had your little prank earlier coming, okay? You HAPPY!?”

Crossing her arms, Akane turned her back to a stunned Ranma who’s mouth was just all but hung open. Putting her shirt back on, Ranma cautiously approached the dismissive Akane and gave a single simple request.

“Akane, hit me.”

“…What?”

“You just admitted you were wrong. I need to be sure that this is actually happening and I’m not in like a dream, or some mirror world or something.”

Feeling more compelled to comply now, Akane brought her fist down an unprepared Ranma’s head, planting her into the floor.

“Mmkay, dssh esh meel…” [A/N: Okay, this is real]. Picking herself out of the human shaped imprint, Ranma rubbed her sore head and quickly added. “At least now maybe you’ll think twice before you go accusin’ me of stuff I ain’t doin’.”

“Don’t push it Ranma.” Akane warned. “Yeah, looking back, there were a lot of times where you were innocent, but there’ve been just as many times when you weren’t. Shall we go over them again?”

“Naw, this chapter’s already derailed enough, and we need to get back on track,” Ranma refused. “Still, it was fun to be the accuser for once. Maybe the author will let it happen again.” She chuckled.

“I hope not. Or at the very least, if he does do it again, I hope he doesn’t involve Gohan,” Akane added. “I’d hate to see him and Videl break-up, and I don’t think I could handle it if I were the reason for it.”

“Speakin’ of which, where _is_ Gohan?” asked Ranma.

“He was here just a second ago? Maybe he just left?”

“Can’t say I blame him after havin’ your heavy, barreled, body all over him.”

_Twitch!_

“Whoop-!”

**_THWAM!!_ **

[A couple minutes later]

“Okay, I’ll admit it…I had that coming.” 

Akane simply ignored her as the two girls returned to the living room, prepared to clean up the mess they remembered was there. They were not prepared however, for what they saw next.

“So you’re top of your class at school?” came the intrigued voice of Kasumi.

“Yeah.” Gohan replied between bites of a rice ball.

“It’s not too often we get someone around these parts who actually puts stock into school work,” Nabiki commented.

“A strong martial artist, who also has a high IQ?” Nodoka let out a longing sigh. “~Haaa~, Videl sounds like a really lucky girl to have found herself such a catch like you.”

A blushing Gohan bashfully avoided eye contact at Nodoka’s compliment.

As the three women chuckled at Gohan’s modesty, Kasumi finally noticed Akane and Ranma in the room, with stunned looks on their faces.

“Oh! Ranma, Akane, there you two are,” greeted Kasumi.

“What’s going on here…?” asked Ranma and Akane together.

“Oh we were just getting acquainted with Gohan here,” Nodoka answered. “When you brought him up before Akane, you didn’t tell us he was so well mannered,” Nodoka beamed.

“I…get it from my mother,” Gohan said placing a hand behind his head.

“Well, we’ll leave you kids alone for now. Kasumi and I have dinner to prepare. Will you be joining us Gohan? Judging from that plate, you seem to have a rather healthy appetite.” Said Nodoka.

“I’d like to, but I probably can’t. I’m only here until Videl gets back, then we have to get home.” Gohan declined.

“Okay, but if you change your mind, the offer’s still open.” Nodoka emphasized as she and Kasumi left the four teens to their own,

Akane sighed. “I think I need a bath.”

“Yeah, if anyone needs me, I’ll be in the dojo,” Ranma said dismissively. To everyone’s surprise however, she didn’t make a point about wanting to change back to normal first. Now there’s a sure sign that Ranma’s just _done_ at this point.

The two then went their separate ways, leaving Gohan and Nabiki alone for the moment. The middle Tendo girl chose that moment to position herself beside Gohan just as he finished up the last bit of his rice ball.

“Well, we’ve got some time to kill, so you wanna talk a little more?” Nabiki suggested.

“I don’t mind, but I do still have some homework to finish,” Gohan earnestly replied.

Nabiki raised an eyebrow. ‘He really _does_ put a lot of stock in school…how bout that,’

As Gohan picked up the previously discarded text book, Nabiki folded her arms beneath her chest before continuing on. “You know, when Akane told us about ‘Videl’s mysterious boyfriend,’ she really undersold you.”

“Undersold?”

“A smart, polite boy who’s also a strong martial artist, and cute to boot? It almost sounds like a too good to be true.” Nabiki complimented, her eyes becoming subtly catlike.

Gohan could only reply with a coy, “Thank you,” before turning his attention back to his textbook.

Nabiki crossed both arms behind her head as she laid back in the sofa seat. “Not gonna lie, it almost makes me a bit jealous.”

“Maybe I oughta start jogging, since it seems the sporty, athletic type girls get all the guys,” she added crossing her legs together.

Gohan turned to Nabiki, intending to ask what she meant by that, but upon noticing her…position, quickly buried himself back into his textbook. This did not go unnoticed by Nabiki, who quickly grew a mischievous smirk.

“Speaking of athletic girls, how exactly _did_ you and Videl get together?” Nabiki asked.

“W-well…” a bead of sweat ran down Gohan’s forehead. “There’s not much to say really. I was new at school, we hung out together through mutual friends and then after a while we just sort of…hit it off.” Gohan meekly replied. “After that things just kind of…escalated from there.”

Nabiki narrowed an eyebrow. That explanation was too…basic. There had to be more too it right?

“So…what’s your favorite thing about her?” Nabiki followed up.

Gohan’s meek expression quickly grew more positive. “That’s easy. It’s definitely got to be her strong determination. I know a lot of strong willed people, but there’s something about Videl’s ‘Never give up’ attitude that just…” Gohan paused as his face turned red. “…just speaks to me…even if it does tend to get her into trouble more than a few times.”

Nabiki’s shady curious expression suddenly turned notably more earnest at Gohan’s heartful words.

Unbeknownst to the two, their conversation was being heavily listened in on by Nodoka and Kasumi, who wanted to make sure Nabiki didn’t try anything skeevy. They didn’t think she’d try to do something like try and take Gohan for herself, but with Nabiki being as nosy as she is, it wasn’t farfetched to think she’d try to take advantage of him in some way to make money. Still, the two eavesdroppers, couldn’t keep their hearts from skipping a beat at Gohan’s heartful words. Given all the romantic entanglements around this town, finding someone who was so genuine with their feelings for their significant other was rather rare, and a nice change of pace.

‘That was…’

‘…so adorable!’

Gohan and Nabiki sat in silence after their previous exchange of words, as Gohan wanted to focus on his work and Nabiki felt…mysteriously less inclined to keep pressing Gohan for details about him and his relationship with Videl.

The entire house remained unusually quiet for the moment, barring miniscule sounds from both the kitchen and dojo, until Akane finally returned to the living room from her bath. As she strolled over to Nabiki and Gohan, the door hastily flew open, and in walked Soun and Genma in Panda form.

“We’re home!” Soun announced.

“Oh hey Dad,” the two sisters greeted their father.

 _“Hmm, is Ranma home yet?”_ read Genma’s sign. His attention then shifted to Gohan who was still casually reading his textbook.

“Uhhhhh…is that a Panda Bear?” asked a flabbergasted Gohan.

“Why yes, yes it is,” Soun replied. “And who would you be, young man?” Soun.

“Oh, my name’s Son Gohan,” the young hybrid politely introduced himself.

The two patriarchs remained silent. Though their expressions were neutral on the outside, inwardly the two were exploding with a multitude of emotions ranging from shock, anticipation, and worry. Through a series of eyeglances, the two communicated to each other what their next move should be.

_“So, this is the boy Ranma and Akane spoke of?”_

_“He just introduced himself with the same name as the Legendary Master’s pupil, so he must be?”_

_“For now just act natural. Mention the Turtle Hermit if you have to, but be subtle about it. We don’t wish to cause a scene if we happen to be wrong.”_

The two nodded to each other before Soun cleared his throat and formally introduced himself and Genma.

“Well, apologies for not being home to greet you earlier. My name is Soun Tendo, the master of this dojo, and this is my dear old friend and partner, Genma Saotome.”

“Saotome? Wait, are you Ranma’s father?” Gohan asked.

Before Genma could write a response on his sign, hot water was poured onto the growling panda’s head changing him back into human form.

“That’s a yes,” Nabiki answered.

“Well, now that Saotome here has introduced us, I hope you wouldn’t mind if the three of us men chatted a little,” Genma said crossing his arms.

“I don’t mind but what about?”

Before the two patriarchs could answer, there was a loud, shrill beep. While everyone was stunned by the unexpected noise, Gohan reached into his pocket and pulled out a cell phone.

“Oh, looks like Videl’s finished at Ms. Cologne’s place. Sorry, but it looks like we’ll have to chat later,” Gohan said gathering his things.

“Isn’t it a bit early for Videl to be finished training with Cologne?” Akane noted.

“Maybe she’s letting her off early tonight?” Gohan suggested.

“But why though?”

“Guess I’ll find out. I’ll see you later Akane, and it was nice meeting everyone!” Darting out the door, Gohan sprinted up the street just as SOun and Genma hastily called out, “WAIIIT!”

Just missing the speedy Saiyan, the two friends stumbled over each other and fell to the floor just as soon as the door shut.

“I guess Gohan won’t be joining us for dinner after all,” interjected Kasumi. “In any case, dinner’s almost done, so everyone wash up and get ready, and could someone please get Ranma?”

“I’m right here,” the redhead announced entering the room. “Hey Pop, why’re you and Mr. Tendo on the floor?”

The duo responded with a grunt of failure.

[Meanwhile]

As Gohan made his way back to the Cat Café, his phone once again pinged. Pulling it out, he read the message with a confused look on his face.

_“Gohan, change of plans. We’re not going home JUST yet! No time to explain why, just know that I need your help! Keep on the lookout for something out of the ordinary. Trust me, you’ll know it when you see it!”_

‘What does she mean by out of the ordinary?’ thinking over Videl’s words, his sprint was slowed down by the sound of screaming. Angry screaming. A LOT of angry screaming. A lot of angry FEMALE screaming.

“What…what’s that sound?” asked Gohan.

Clearly ignoring the narration, the young Saiyan received his answer as the screaming was soon accompanied by the sound of hearty laughter. Turning to the opposite end of the street, Gohan’s eyes widened as he saw a mob of very irate girls, some of them wielding makeshift weapons from sports sticks to brooms and everything in between, chasing after something small and dark that was just bounding just out of their clutches.

“I hit the motherload this time!” came a raspy voice. Upon closer inspection, Gohan identified the small black figure to be an elderly man with a black mask tied around his head carrying a green sack. As the elder leapt away from the attack of one of the women, something fell out of the sack, something that made Gohan turn very red.

“Is…is that…a bra!?”

Putting two and two together, Gohan finally realized why the mob of women were so angry. Amongst the ineligible angry screams, Gohan did manage to make out a familiar voice yell out, “Get back here you filthy freak!”

Sure enough, pushing through the pack until she was at the head was none other than Videl who was looking absolutely irate.

“Videl? Is this what she was talking about?” Putting the thoughts aside, Gohan immediately chose to spring into action…well…almost immediately. First things first, he needed to prepare.

[Meanwhile, with Happosai and the mob]

“I swear I’m gonna break you!” Threatened a heavily panting Videl.

“Sorry Ms. New girl, but you still got a few hundred years before you can catch the great Happosai!” the elder taunted.

“You wanna bet!?”

Leaping into the air, Videl hovered above Happosai and launched at him with a dive kick. The smug pervert merely leapt away from the anxious girl’s attack with a tormenting laugh.

“Like I said, you’ve got no chance against me!”

Videl growled with furious irritation. Normally she’d be able to deliver on her threats, but given the fact that this old man was more slippery than a greased eel, not to mention Videl’s current state of exhaustion following her training with Cologne, making good on her words would prove rather difficult this time.

As both Happy and Videl stood defiantly, waiting for either one to make the next move, the girls in the mob all turned their attention to a flowing shadow that suddenly appeared overhead. This didn’t go unnoticed by the two combatants who also turned towards the mysterious shadow. In the next instance…

**_STOOOMP!_ **

“Bwwaagh!”

Videl let out a victorious, “All right!” as the other girls gasped in shock.

as a familiar figure in a green suit, orange helmet, and red cape, planted his foot on top of Happosai, driving him into the pavement and catching the sack that he’d subsequently discarded.

_‘Who’s that?’_

_‘Is he with the old man?’_

_‘Why’s he dressed like a weirdo?’_

_‘He looks like a Power Ranger!’_

_‘Power Rangers don’t wear capes though.’_

_‘One team did…’_

Inoring the murmurs of the curious mob, the green clad savior said to Happosai, “Excuse me sir, but I don’t believe those belong to you.” Without another word, the hero tossed the sack to Videl who then unwrapped it and let the other girls find their stolen garments.

“NOOOOOOOOOOOO! MY TREASUUUURES!”

“A word to the wise old timer, stealing is NEVER okay, especially from women…and that goes double for items that are as personal as those!” the green clad figure scolded.

“Yooooouuuu…YOUUUUUUUUUUU…!!!” Happosai grit his teeth in pure rage as his battle aura flared to life. In a small explosion, Happosai disappeared from under the hero’s heel and stood defiantly before him.

“YOUUUUU! I don’t know who you are, but mark my words sonny, I’ll make you pay for ruining this Elder’s one happiness in this cruel forsaken world!” he declared.

“You don’t know who I am?” the hero replied with a smirk. “Allow me to tell you my name!”

All the girls, Videl included watched the scene with anticipation. ‘And, here it comes,’ Videl thought with s light chuckle.

Striking a pose where he crossed his arm across his chest, he began his signature phrase.

“I am…an ally of justice!” Pose.

“Who does not tolerate evil!” Pose.

“I. Am…THE GREAT SAIYAMAN!” Ending pose!

All the tension of the situation instantly died as everyone, with the sole exception of Videl looked at Saiyaman with looks of befuddlement.

Happosai dropped his fighting stance and just stammered in bewilderment, “Wow…that was just…wow…”

“It kinda reminded me of Sailor Moon, only not as cool or catchy!” added one of the girls from the mob.

“I’m…unfamiliar with that name, but I can assure you, I’m more than capable of dealing with this lecherous miscreant!” Saiyaman declared taking his own fighting stance.

“Sorry sonny, but after witnessing…whatever _that_ was, I don’t even feel like fighting you anymore, so you know what, I’ll just take my consolation prize and be on my way.”

Taking out a stick with a sack tied to the end, Happosai turned to make his exit. Saiyaman was a bit hesitant to go after him, since he did surrender after all. His hesitation was quickly squelched by the sack coming undone and a single white bra fell from it. Saiyaman sighed as he was about to make a move to retrieve the stolen garment but paused when he heard a familiar voice cry out.

“Hey wait a minute......THAT’S MY BRA!” came the anguished yell of Videl.

Both Saiyaman and Happosai paused at the proclamation, the latter of whom began to sweat bullets.

“Saiyaman…”

“Ms. Videl…”

“Let him have it!”

“With pleasure!”

His motivation flying through the roof, The Great Saiyaman flew at the diminutive old man and pulled back his fist. Channeling his energy into his hands, the hero fired off his attack with a fierce yell of.

“Justice…PUNCH!”

Happosai cried out in absolute agony as Saiyaman’s attack hit like a stampede of elephants and launched him halfway across the globe, complete with a trademark Team Rocket _*PING_

As Saiyaman stood triumphantly, the mob of girls broke out into a fit of cheers.

_“That was awesome!”_

_“My hero!”_

_“You saved us!”_

Giving a two-fingered salute, Saiyaman replied with a simple, “All in a day’s work.” Before taking off into the sky. As the girls waved the hero off, Videl let out a satisfied giggle before going to retrieve what was hers.

[A few minutes later]

Saiyaman was soaring through the sky, searching for a place to change back into Gohan. All the while, he couldn’t stop thinking about the bizarre encounter he just had. ‘Man, Mom, Bulma, and 18 think Master Roshi’s bad, that tiny guy, really took the cake. Even Elder Supreme Kai wasn’t this bad.’

Saiyaman sighed. ‘Still, how the heck did he get Videl’s…?’ His thoughts froze as he quickly realized what Happosai’s theft meant. For a brief moment, Videl wasn’t wearing a…!

Gohan quickly banished the thought from his mind just as a familiar voice caught his attention.

“There you are Gohan!”

Quickly fixing his composure, Gohan shakily, but heartfully greeted her. “Oh, hey Videl.”

“Why are you still in the costume?”

“Just looking for a place to change back.”

“Just do it here, nobody can see us THIS high up.”

“…True.”

Hitting the button on his watch, The Great Saiyaman once again took the form of Son Gohan and the couple proceeded to fly back to Satan City. The two remained silent for the early minutes of their flight until Gohan spoke up.

“So Videl, how’d your training with Cologne go?” he asked.

“The bulk of it was the same, but it was all worth it. Cologne said that my energy may be at an acceptable level so tomorrow, we’ll try the technique for real!”

“Wow, that’s great!” Gohan exclaimed.

“She let me out early so I can rest tonight. I may have built up my energy over the past week, but I still have a long way to go before I can use it as effortlessly as you guys do.” Videl said with a determined look on her face.

Gohan couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride in Videl’s announcement. He was the one who taught her to access her energy in the first place, and now she was on the way to learning an offensive technique. Still, he also couldn’t help but feel a bit guilty that _he_ wasn’t the one showing her.

“Hey Videl?”

“Yes?”

“I’m sorry for snooping on you but…”

“If you’re worried if I’m still mad about that, then calm down. I’m already over it,” she assured him.

“Heh, well I’m glad to hear that, but what I want to know is why were you so dead set on keeping this training a secret?” Gohan asked.

“Well…” Videl trailed off, her face becoming a light red tint. “To be honest, the main reason I didn’t tell you was because…I kind of just forgot to…” she bashfully admitted.

“Wait…you forgot?”

“Initially, but after I remembered, I decided to keep a secret for a couple of reasons; For starters, I didn’t want you to get all worried over nothing and then make a scene trying to protect me or something…so kind of like what happened earlier she lightly narrowed an eyebrow.

Gohan coyly chuckled as he avoided her gaze.

“Second, I wanted to prove that I could handle the kind of training that you and the others can do.”

“What do you mean by that?” asked Gohan.

“Gohan…every time we train together, all you do is tank hits and play defense. I get it, you’re several times stronger than I am because you’re a saiyan and you don’t want to hurt me, but you really have GOT to stop taking it so easy on me.”

Gohan quickly became defensive. “Wait Videl, it’s not like I’m not taking you seriously whenever we train together it’s just…”

“Just what?”

Gohan looked at Videl, a somber expression on his features. “I didn’t know you felt so strongly about this Videl. Why didn’t you say something?”

“Honestly Gohan, if I’d have asked you before now, would you have actually started fighting back?”

“I…I honestly can’t say,” Gohan admitted. “But I can say that I understand. Believe it or not, I went through this same sort of thing with Dad back when we were training to fight Cell.”

“Really?” Videl’s eyes widened with intrigue.

“Yeah. You want to hear about it?”

“YES!”

As Gohan began the tale of how he first became a Super Saiyan, he let out a mental sigh of relief as his plan to change subjects seemed to have worked. While he told the story, he also made a promise to himself to help Videl with her future training however he could…even if that meant having to get rough with her.

**_(A/N: For once I don’t really have anything worthwhile to say. This chapter took a bit to get started with, but I ultimately got it out in a relatively fair amount of time I think Also, this is my longest chapter yet. Not sure if this’ll be the standard going forward, but I hope I can at least keep this pace. Next time, we return to the Cat Café for Videl to start her TRUE training with the Point of Impact Technique. She may need to hurry though, cause Ryoga’s infamous horrible sense of direction is about to be mitigated)_ **

 


	26. Learning the Hard WAy

** My Life’s Stranger Than Yours **

_ Videl’s Dilemma; Learning the Hard Way _

The next day came in a flash and as soon as the final bell at Orange Star rang, Videl was out the door and into the skies in no time. Per her request, Gohan decided to opt out although he was still curious of Cologne’s technique, he wanted to respect Videl’s wishes and give her the space she desired, so while she went to her training session at the Cat Café, he got back to work in defending the city.

Before long, Videl descended at the Cat Café where she was quickly lunged at by Mousse. “Oh Shampoo, you’ve finally returned!”

Videl simply sidestepped the Male Amazon and dealt a chop to the back of his head. “Put your glasses on,” she deadpanned. After complying with her request, Mousse let out a gasp. “Gah! _You’re_ back!”

“Yeah, because I’m training with Cologne, remember?”

“My apologies. I’ve no ill will towards you, but if you’re here, can I assume that friend of yours isn’t too far behind either?” asked Mousse.

“Nope. I asked Gohan to stay behind this time, so unless HE’S SPYING ON ME AGAIN…” Videl shouted and waited for a reaction. After a brief pause, she continued, “…then he probably won’t show up today.”

“Tch! Curses…it seems my retribution will have to be postponed longer than I’d have liked,” Mousse muttered.

“Uhhhmmm…you know I can hear you right?” Videl stated.

Mousse cleared his throat. “Regardless, the old lady’s not here at the moment,” Mousse revealed.

“What? Then, where is she?” Videl inquired.

“I’m not 100% sure, but she asked me to give you this.” Reaching into his sleeve, Mousse pulled out a scrap of paper and handed it to Videl who, after looking it over, narrowed her eyes in irritation.

“What am I supposed to do with this picture of Shampoo?” Videl asked.

“GYAGH!”

Mousse hastily snatched the photograph away from Videl and handed her a second scrap of paper. Shooting Mousse a displeased look, Videl simply stated, “You know I’m gonna tell her about that picture right?”

A red-faced Mousse simply shouted, “Just read the note dammit!”, before scampering off in shame.

With a sigh, Videl opened the note and read aloud, “An opening?”

As soon as the words left her mouth, Videl felt a light tap on her stomach before a sharp pain shot through her gut, blowing her back and bringing her to her knees.

Videl slowly picked herself off the ground and looked up to see Cologne perched on top of her staff.

“Glad you could make it. Did you enjoy your first lesson?” the elder smirked.

“You…call that a lesson?” Videl strained as she got to her feet.

“I guess ‘demonstration’, would be more accurate,” Cologne snickered.

“You do know I’ve seen your demonstration before, right?” asked a disgruntled Videl.

“Must’ve slipped my mind,” snickered Cologne. “Now for the fun part, follow me.”

A short moment later, Cologne led Videl back to the vacant lot where a large number of cinderblocks were stacked together.

“Now before we begin, tell me this though girl, how would you describe the sensation you felt when I struck you?” asked Cologne.

“I…don’t know. Painful?”

“Specifics girl, specifics!” Cologne demanded.

“It felt like…my stomach started tingling…and then someone nailed me in the gut with a soccer ball.”

“A bit basic, but not inaccurate. Watch closely.” Cologne hopped over to one of the cinderblocks before swiftly throwing a punch with her tiny fist. In the next instance the block was still intact, but there was a small knuckle sized indentation on it.

“Whoa…” marveled Videl.

“As I’ve previously explained, the key to this technique is holding onto your energy and releasing it at the exact moment your strike connects your opponent. As opposed to just utilizing your ki to amplify your attacks in the normal sense, this is a more precision based technique,” recalled Cologne. “By expending your energy, you can land a pre-emptive strike that can bypass enemy defense.”

Videl looked down at her hands while Cologne explained. “Now first things first, let’s see how much your Ki has grown this past week.”

Videl was caught fairly off guard by Cologne’s request. With the exception of flight, Videl hadn’t really used any form of energy that was actually visible before…except…. Thinking back to her early lessons with Gohan, Videl recalled the moment she was able to bring her ki out. She wasn’t quite sure if that’s what Cologne wanted to see but at this point, it was all she had.

Cupping her hands together in front of her face, Videl concentrated for a few seconds before a small ball of light appeared in between her palms. Without realizing it, the ball steadily became bigger and bigger until it was about the size of a bowling ball.

Cologne eyed Videl with an inquisitive look. ‘Hmmm…it could be better, but she should have just enough fuel in the old tank to…’ Before Cologne could finish her thought, Videl’s energy ball soon grew until it was the size of a large beach ball, and Videl could be seen visibly straining to keep it in check.

‘Oh! Perhaps I spoke too soon.’ “Okay Videl, that’s enough!” Cologne exclaimed.

The ball expanded another two or so inches before it finally bursting in a bright golden light. Panting, Videl fell to her knees, holding herself up on a pair of shaky arms.

“How…was that…?” Videl strained out.

“If I were to give you a letter grade…” Cologne hummed. “That’d probably be a B-.”

“A B-?”

Cologne nodded. “Your improvement from when we first began is clearly evident, but there’s still quite a gap for you to cross. Still, you did earn yourself a passing grade at the very least.”

“Yaaaay…” Videl faux cheered throwing up a shaky fist.

“So, now that your base ki is at an adequate level, and you can release your power with relative ease, we can begin the tricky part: holding that power inside…”

Cologne took a glance over at Videl to see that while she was back on her feet, her arms were still shaking. She took that as a sign that Videl still needed a bit more time to recover. “…as soon as your energy replenishes.”

[A brief moment later]

Cologne observed as Videl concentrated. For a while, she seemed to just be idly standing around with her eyes closed. Before long however, a small whirlwind of dust began to pick up around her, showing evidence of Videl’s power being raised.

‘So far so good…’ Cologne mentally noted. ‘Now focus that power where you want it to go.’

Once she felt that she was at full power, Videl slowly extended her arm in front of her. Making a fist and clenching hard, Videl let out a small grunt as, similar to what Gohan had shown her with flight, she was able to focus her energy into her arm.

Guessing that Videl was prepared to try her hand at the technique, Cologne quickly placed one of the cinderblocks before her and stepped aside to give her necessary space. After slowly rearing her hand back, Videl threw a punch at the stone block, and to her surprise, a large chunk of it crackled off before her fist even connected.

“Did…did I do that?” asked a stunned Videl.

“Believe it or not, yes.” Cologne confirmed. “That’s the good news. The bad news is, you failed to perform the technique.”

“Then…what’d I do wrong? What happened?”

_[A few seconds earlier]_

_When Videl threw her punch, the energy that had been focused in her arm was prematurely and unintentionally released, resulting in a small ki blast to shoot out of her fist and shatter the block._

_[Back to the present]_

“Basically, you released your power WAY too soon which resulted in it shooting out of your hand in the form of a ball,” explained Cologne.

Videl remained silent at Cologne’s explanation, a look of disbelief on her face. As Cologne continued to give Videl tips on what she should be doing, which fell on deaf ears, Videl merely raised her hand, focused her energy and lightly palmed the air. As Cologne said, a ball of ki flew out and struck the ground. Making a small, but notable sized hole.

A childlike grin etched its way onto Videl’s face as she raised her opposite hand and repeated the motion again. Sure enough, another small ki blast shot out. Followed by another, and another, and another.

As Videl continued to fire off the ‘Energy Pellets’ her grin soon escalated into a giddy giggle, which in turn escalated into a frantic, excited laugh. All around the lot, Videl fired off the tiny, non-lethal shots until…

**_Ka-Thonk!_ **

“Ow!”

Videl rubbed the sore spot on her head and turned to see Cologne with a displeased look on her face.

“Having fun are we?”

Videl took a quick look around the lot and her face became a light red once she saw that there were now tiny holes and cracks plastered all over the area. Thankfully, it didn’t seem that she hit anything vital, but there would undoubtedly be several questions.

“Maybe just a little…” Videl sheepishly chuckled.

“Hmph,” Cologne narrowed her eyes. “Normally, this would be the part where I’d chew you out for ignoring me and my instructions,” Cologne began. “…But because you managed to impress me with your little ‘Chi-Blast’ display, I’ll let it slide this _one_ time.”

Videl let out a relieved sigh. If Cologne’s normal lessons were always so brutal, she’d hate to be on the receiving end of a major punishment.

“Yeah, sorry for zoning out like that,” Videl apologized. “But after seeing Gohan, the others, and even _Ranma_ of all people fire off shots like that…I just got a bit overjoyed that I could do it too now.” ‘Even though I know the force behind them is nothing compared to theirs.’

“Oh. So you’ve seen Son-In-Law’s Tiger Blast in action, have you?” asked Cologne. “It’s not every fight he uses that technique, so his opponent must’ve been quite a handful. If you may, who exactly was Ranma fighting when you saw him use that technique?” Cologne asked.

“Oh it was just a light sparring match with Gote…Ah!” Videl quickly bit her tongue as she recalled that Ranma’s loss to Goten was supposed to remain a secret.

Seeing it only as a typical Freudian slip, Cologne let out a light chuckle as Videl took a quick sip of water. “So, Son-in-Law and that boyfriend of yours actually did have a match, didn’t they?” Cologne guessed.

After recovering, Videl simply replied. “Actually…it was Gohan’s dad. He put up a solid fight but got thrashed pretty hard in the end.”

“I’m guessing that’s what’s gotten him so flustered these past few days?” Cologne sighed. “If there’s one thing Akane’s right about when it comes to that boy, it’s his fragile ego. It’s no surprise he’s taken the loss rather poorly, but he shouldn’t feel too bad if it was against someone as renowned in the martial arts world as Son-Goku.” Cologne said.

“I guess,” Videl added before taking another sip of water.

“Now if he had lost to his son however, then Ranma’s ire would be more justified.”

Videl suddenly coughed in surprise as the words left Cologne’s mouth. To not arouse any suspicion, she quickly apologized and gave a quick, “Wrong…pipe…” which seemed to do the trick.

After a few more minutes rest, Videl was once again ready to attempt the technique again. However, she once again released her ki to early and wound up firing a small blast. Videl repeated the process over and over again until…

“Gaow…!”

Videl held her hand in pain as this time she hadn’t released her ki at all and struck the cinderblock with her bare fist. She did manage to crack the block, but thanks to her unfamiliarity with striking something so solid it also took its toll on her. Still, hanging true to the old saying, Videl continued to attempt the technique.

[Many Hours Later]

The sky was bathed in a bright orange light as Videl could once again be seen on her knees panting whilst rubbing her right hand and wrist. Off to the side, Cologne could be seen sipping a cup of tea with a manga just to the side. All around the two women were shattered remains of cinderblocks from Videl’s many, MANY failed attempts to perform the point of impact technique.

Over these past few hours, Videl had repeatedly shot off small chi blasts that would break the blocks before she ever connected with them, or flat out just punch them with varying degrees of success in breaking them. After the many attempts and scrapes, Videl finally did manage to contain her energy and completely shatter a block or two with a single strike. Unfortunately, she was still quite a ways off from her desired results.

“Dammit…why am I not getting this!?” Videl harshly muttered.

“I wouldn’t be too distraught if I were you. Nailing the timing for this technique is admittedly rather tricky. If it’s any consolation though, you have at least learned how to concentrate your energy where you want it to go.”

“Yeah, I guess…” Videl sighed.

“I think it’s best if we call it a day right here,” suggested Cologne.

“…Alright.”

“Now what’s with that attitude? You’ve made considerable progress today…for a rookie.”

“I know but…it’s just so frustrating. It feels like I’m _this_ close to getting this right,” she motioned with her fingers, “But I just can’t for some reason.”

Cologne sighed. “I figured someone with your martial arts experience would know that not every technique can be learned in a single day, let alone one’s first attempt.”

“I know…but I thought this would be easier once I managed to get my energy to where it needs to be. After all, I did manage to float on my first day when I was learning how to fly,” Videl countered rather smugly.

“As impressive as that is, a baby must learn to crawl before learning to walk,” Colgone replied sardonically. “Even if it knows how to stand up on its own, the child is likely to tumble and fall before it can fully take its first steps. To put into perspective, you’ve already got the crawling and standing thing down, you now have to take the step without toppling over.”

“How do I do that?” asked Videl.

“The old-fashioned way girl.”

Cologne grabbed her things and pogoed onto a nearby fence. “I’ve shown you the basis of the technique, all you really need to do now is keep practicing the technique until you’ve got it down. If you wish for me to continue monitoring you, feel free to drop by again after school. Otherwise, you’re free to do as you like. I’ll be looking forward to your upcoming battle. Win or lose, we’ll discuss compensation afterwards.”

“Okay.”

Cologne quickly leapt out of the lot and hurried back to the Cat Café. She knew she could trust Shampoo to keep things under control while she was gone, but given what time it was now, things were sure to be rather busy.

As soon as Cologne was out of sight, Videl remained still for a moment to think over her words. Of course, simply practicing would yield results sooner or later, but it couldn’t be _that_ simple…could it. Also, something about the way she’d said it had sounded eerily familiar. Sadly, Videl’s thoughts would be interrupted by a low rumble filling the air. Videl looked down and sheepishly clutched her stomach. “It has been a while since I’ve eaten, hasn’t it?” she thought aloud. Hovering out of the lot, Videl began to fly her way over to Ucchan’s.

Unbeknownst to Videl however, a tall, white-cloaked figure with sharp eyes could be seen hovering above the lot where she and Cologne had been. “Hmph, well what do you know?”

[Some time later at Ucchan’s]

“Thanks Ukyo.” Videl said, as Ukyo handed her a large box.

“No problem, but when are you finally gonna bring that man of yours over?” Ukyo asked. “I’m _dying_ to see how much he enjoys my okonomiyaki myself.”

“Can’t say for sure, but it may be soon. Until then, just keep up the good work…and also, stock up on supplies.”

“Will do,” Ukyo chuckled. “Catch ya later.”

“Bye!”

Videl exited Ukyo’s restaurant, food in hand. Already having had one, she decided to get some okonomiyaki to-go for her father, Buu, and maybe Gohan if they happened to meet again.

Taking to the sky, Videl’s mind began to wander. She knew she was close to getting the technique down, she even knew what she was doing wrong, but what could she do to fix it? With a sigh, Videl decided not to think about it for now. She’d spent all day pretty much brutalizing her own hand with those cinderblocks, and she needed to unwind.

[Meanwhile]

At Mt. Paouzu, a familiar trio of a young boy, a young man, and an older man could be seen soaking in a wooden hot tub together.

“Hurry up you guys, dinner’s almost ready!” Called Chi-Chi.

“Okay!” The father and sons said simultaneously.

As the three prepared to exit the water, Gohan, heard a familiar voice ring through his head.

_“Gohan! It’s me.”_

‘Piccolo? Finally.’

“Hey, you guys go on ahead, I think I’ll stay here a little while longer,” said Gohan.

Goku and Goten both shrugged. “If you say so Son, but don’t get angry if your brother and I eat most of the food,” Goku taunted.

Grabbing their clothes and a pair of towels, the youngest son and patriarch entered the dome home. Once inside, Piccolo made his presence known and landed outside the tub.

“Hmph, enjoying your bath?” teased Piccolo.

“Never mind that now Piccolo. How’s Videl?”

“Straight to the point huh? Well, if you’re worried if she’s going to get herself seriously injured or anything like that, you can rest easy. From what I saw today, she and the old lady she’s training with are just going through the motions of teaching her the technique.”

Gohan let out a relieved breath. Sure he experienced first hand the kind of training Videl was doing with Cologne, he still needed that extra reassurance.

“There’s more good news. She’s actually learned to harness her energy rather quickly. Though they’re weak, she can now, at least form a solid blast,” Piccolo continued.

“Wait, Videl can use energy blasts now!?” Gohan exclaimed.

Piccolo nodded. “Yeah, but like I said they’re weak. If she used one in combat, it probably wouldn’t be any better than throwing a small, but heavy stone.”

“Still, it’s great that she’s progressing.” Gohan’s excitement quickly subsided. “Although…part of me wishes it was _me_ that helped her get to that point.”

“Isn’t being possessive of your mate considered a bad thing by you earthlings?” Piccolo joked.

Gohan’s face instantly became beet red. “I’m not being possessive!” he defended. “It’s just…I was her first teacher when it came to energy control so…”

“With her finding a new teacher, you’re feeling a bit left out?” Piccolo guessed.

Gohan nodded. “I know it’s kind of my own fault, since I don’t train that often anymore…but still.”

“If that’s you’re only worry, then you may want to hear this.”

Gohan then faced his former teacher with full investment. “The bad news is, Videl seemed to be struggling with performing the technique. Knowing that girl, she’s most likely going to want to try and figure it out for herself, but she clearly needs some extra guidance.”

Gohan put a hand to his chin. “So…you think I should try and be that guide?”

Piccolo nodded. “The way I see it, that Cologne woman has clearly done all she can for her at this point, and you said it yourself, you were her first teacher for these sorts of advanced martial arts, so who better to help her fine tune things?” he replied with a smirk.

A small smile grew its way onto Gohan’s face. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. Thanks Piccolo…and sorry for getting you involved in this.”

“Hmph. No worries. If anything, this just makes me curious to see where her training will go from here, so who knows, you might see more of me in the meantime.” With a flick of his cape, Piccolo ascended into the air just as the sun finally began to disappear. Now that Gohan was alone, he decided to think over the situation again.

Piccolo may have had a point about him being the one to help Videl through her little slump, but would he even get the chance? Gohan was well familiar with how stubborn Videl independent she was/tried to be, so the odds of her straight up asking him for help at this point, especially after the Cat Café fiasco seemed pretty unlikely. Deciding to it over the night, for now, Gohan quickly left the tub, covered himself accordingly and made his way back inside. ‘Hopefully Dad and Goten haven’t taken all the best parts of dinner yet.’

[Satan City]

After finally making it back home, and enjoying the last bit of okonomiyaki with Buu, Videl stood under the tense-easing spray of hot water, thinking back to Cologne’s earlier words to simply keep practicing.

_“I’ve shown you the basis of the technique, all you really need to do now is keep practicing the technique until you’ve got it down.”_

_“I’ve already shown you how to fly. All you really need now is a little bit of private practice.”_

The realization suddenly hit Videl like a punch to the head. Gohan had said something similar when he first taught her to fly.

‘It always comes back to Gohan, doesn’t it?’ “That figures,” Videl sighed.

Shortly, after leaving the shower, Videl lay back on her bed, still in her robe recalling the last few days.

_“You have a habit of biting off more than you can chew.”_

The words rang in Videl’s mind as she recalled the incidents Gohan mentioned following that statement, and though she hated to admit it, he was right. Her current situation shouldn’t be too far out of her league, but given that she’s (presumably) short on time, maybe a helping hand wouldn’t be so bad after all.

“Now that I think about it, Gohan _did_ offer to help me quite a few times already…maybe I ought to take him up on it.

 

[The next day]

Morning at Orange Star High. The bell had yet to ring, so after arriving early and discarding his costume, Gohan decided to hang on the roof of the school and enjoy a little EXTRA bite to eat, courtesy of a café he made a brief stop at.

As Gohan unwrapped his breakfast sandwich, a small humanoid shadow crept up beside him. “Good morning Gohan.”

Turning aside, Gohan waved a quick greeting to an approaching VIdel. “Guhd…good morning Videl,” Gohan said while swallowing.

“It’s not often I find you at school this early. I guess the prospect of a second breakfast after leaving home was motivating enough for you to hurry,” she teased, taking a seat next to him.

“I’m not… _that_ motivated by food!” Gohan defended.

“Compared to your dad and brother you mean,” Videl chuckled while Gohan meekly pouted.

“Joking aside, I’m glad I found you so quickly,” said Videl, her tone becoming notably more serious.

“Hm?”

“You see Gohan…I think I need help…” Videl began.

“With…training?” Gohan guessed.

“How’d you know? You weren’t spying on me again, were you?” Videl teased in a half joking manner.

“O-of course not. I actually heard it from Piccolo,” Gohan slipped.

“Wait…Piccolo?”

Color seemed to drain from Gohan’s face. He hadn’t meant to tell her about Piccolo, but when she seemingly got suspicious again, he instinctively shifted the blame to him.

“Gohan…please don’t tell me that you asked Piccolo to spy on me in your stead,” Videl said in a more threatening tone.

“No way! I learned my lesson last time!” Gohan defended. “I did tell him about your training with Cologne though,” he admitted. “I guess something about what he heard got him interested enough to check out your training himself, and he just passed it on to me.”

Videl looked at Gohan as he explained and while she could see the shakiness on his features, she guessed it was from her imminent anger as opposed to being a lie as she could also sense the sincerity in his voice.

Her ire quickly dissipating, Videl let out a calming breath. “I see…well I don’t know what he told you, but yeah, this technique…is a bit harder to pull off than I thought,” she admitted. “Cologne says I should just keep practicing on my own, but I don’t think it’ll be enough.”

“So basically, you’re saying you need a training partner?” Gohan asked, his face lighting up.

Videl nodded. “I can find a partner anywhere, what I need…” Videl stood up and extended a hand towards Gohan. “…is a good teacher.”

His face as bright as a spotlight, Gohan stood up and firmly (but carefully) took Videl’s hand. “Well, you’ve got one!”

“Oh thank you Gohan!” Videl exclaimed throwing her arms around him. Their warm embrace was cut short at the sound of the bell ringing.

“Well, that killed the moment,” deadpanned Videl. As Gohan chuckled, Videl quickly opened the door to the staircase. “We’ll head to your place after school. How’s that sound?”

“Pretty good to me,” he replied.

“Great!” Planting a quick kiss on his cheek, Videl rushed down the stairs and called back, “See you in class!”

Gohan lightly rubbed his cheek as they both flashed red. Despite being together for at least a year, he just can’t help but get flustered every time he feels the press of her lips him. Quickly shaking himself back to reality, Gohan rushed down the stairs to class. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally posted on FF(dot) net July 11. Apologies for the delayed cross-post.


	27. Training Struggles

** My Life’s Stranger Than Yours **

_ Training Struggles; Who’s The Perfect Partner? _

An anxious Akane Tendo could be seen strolling through the streets of Furinkan, Ranma following her on the fence beside her.

“Where ya’ goin’, the Cat Café?” asked Ranma.

“Yeah. I want to see how Videl’s training is coming along and if she needs any help,” she answered. “Why are you coming with me?”

“Well I ain’t got nothin’ better to do, and I still wanna see what the Old Ghoul has in store for her. Plus, I’m kinda hungry,” Ranma added.

“Well, you’d probably have an idea of what Cologne and Videl are doing if you hadn’t taken off like you did,” Akane taunted.

Ranma crossed his arms and pouted. Seriously, how long was she going to hold his loss to Goten over his head like this? Before long, the pair finally arrived at the Cat Café and upon entering, much to their surprise, found it looking notably less busy than it had been all week.

“Is it just me or is the atmosphere kinda dead in here?” noted Ranma.

“Ranma!” exclaimed Shampoo who wasted no time in attaching herself to Ranma’s neck and pressing her chest against his.

“Ggh! Shampoo, get offa me!” Ranma exclaimed.

“Not until Ranma agree to go on date with Shampoo!”

Before another word was said, water was splashed over the two and Ranma instantly let out a high-pitched shriek as he and Shampoo transformed. While the now female Ranma darted around the dining hall, hastily trying to pry Cat Shampoo off her collar, Akane was approached by Cologne who had come out from the kitchen.

“If you’re looking for your friend Ms. Tendo, she’s not here today,” she noted.

“What? How come?”

“Guess she decided she wants to train on her own from here on out,” answered Cologne. “Can’t say I blame her. We’ve sort of hit the limit for what I can do for her now. The rest is up to her.”

“I see…” Akane replied with disappointment in her voice.  “Do you think she’ll be back?”

“Who can say? She’ll certainly be back for the fight no doubt, but before then it’s anyone’s guess.” Cologne replied.

Akane let out a dejected sigh. “Man, I really wanted to help her train again.”

“I think the best way you can help is to give her some space for now and let her try to figure things out herself. I invited her to come back again if she so chooses, so I’m sure that if she needs any help in the future, she’ll ask for it and come back.”

[At Mt. Paouzu]

“Ker-choo!”

“Are you alright?” Gohan asked.

“Yeah, it’s nothing,” Videl replied rubbing her thumb against her nose. ‘Wonder who’d be talking about me at a time like this though.’

After a quick trip to Gohan’s house so he could change into his training gear, the pair jetted into the forest so they could train together privately.

“Well then, shall we get started?”

“Of course.”

“First things first Videl, the technique Ms. Cologne was trying to teach you, how is it supposed to be performed?” Gohan inquired.

Videl put a hand to her chin in contemplation. “Well, she described it as channeling energy into your arm and holding it and only releasing it at the last possible second,” she began. “The thing is, I can’t keep my energy in for too long when I try attacking and I wind up just releasing it.”

“Hmmm…could you demonstrate?” Gohan requested.

Videl nodded before as she strolled over to a nearby tree. Closing her eyes in concentration, the grass around Videl began to shake as her energy began to rise.

Gohan’s eyebrows raised in interest as he sensed Videl’s ki increase. ‘She really has learned how to raise her power. I wonder what else she learnt from Ms. Cologne.’

Once Videl’s power was at its maximum, she took a fighting stance and channeled all the power she could into her arms. With a fierce yell, Videl threw a punch at the tree’s trunk and instead of the imprint that Cologne had demonstrated, a small ki blast fired out of her fist and burnt into the tree leaving a scorch mark.

“Videl, did you just…?” exclaimed a surprised Gohan.

“What, did Piccolo _not_ tell you I could do that now?” Videl smugly winked.

“He did…but seeing it in person is just a little astonishing.” Gohan lightly awed.

“Thanks, but even so, all I can do is throw pot shots. They’re not going to help me against a tank like Ryoga,” Videl frustratingly admitted, her fist shaking.

“Whoa, take it easy Videl,” said a consoling Gohan. “I know how much this means to you, and I don’t want to see you get hurt, so how about this, once we’re done figuring out Ms. Cologne’s technique, maybe I could…show you a couple of ours?”

Videl’s expression immediately perked up with interest. “Do you mean it Gohan!?” she exclaimed getting right into Gohan’s personal space.

“S-sure! I want you to win this match too, and I promised to help you however I could.”

Retreating from Gohan’s body, Videl now had her fist clenched in anticipation. “So, you think I’ll be able to use the Kamehameha when this is all over?”

Gohan chuckled. “Slow down Videl. Let’s focus on one thing for now and not try to do too much at once…and now that I think about it, that just may be your issue.”

“What do you mean by that?” Videl asked raising an eyebrow.

Gohan nodded. “It’s simple. When you use Ms. Cologne’s technique, you’re trying to use too much power all at once.”

Videl paused as Gohan’s words registered in her mind. “Wait, is that really it?”

“That’s what it seems to be. You’re attempting to channel more energy into your arm than it can withstand.”

“Wait what do you mean ‘more than my arm can withstand?” Videl asked.

“Well…” Gohan trailed off. “Answer me this Videl, when you were trying the move out, were you trying to put all of your power into it?”

Videl thought back to her earlier attempts and realized Gohan was right. She did pour all her strength and energy into the technique. She then nodded her confirmation.

“The move is performed by channeling energy into your arm and holding it in until you strike, right? You just may not have enough strength in your arms to hold the energy to perform the technique correctly…at least not yet,” Gohan explained.

“So wait, are you saying that I won’t be able to use the technique until I build my body more?” asked a now hysterical Videl.

“Not necessarily. If you just use less energy, the technique should come much easier for you.”

“But aren’t you _supposed_ to put everything into it?” Videl asked.

Gohan shrugged. “I’m not sure about Ms. Cologne’s technique specifically, but generally it kind of depends on the move you’re trying to use. Sometimes it may be better to use less power instead of going all in for a single blow. You know that old saying, don’t put all your eggs into one basket?”

Videl looked down at her hands while going over Gohan’s advice in her mind. Letting out a calming breath, she once again closed her eyes to concentrate. After a moment of silent focus, Gohan could feel her energy rise to its apex again.

“Whoa hold it Videl, you’re at full power again. Dial it back a bit,” Gohan instructed.

Videl nodded before she calmingly exhaled and her energy slowly began to drop. Once Videl was at about half strength, Gohan quickly ordered her to hold it.

“Okay Videl, take a moment to get used to this level, then try the technique again,” he instructed.

Videl took a fighting stance and let her energy simmer, the flowing grass beneath her signifying her increased power. At half strength, she channeled all her remaining energy into her arm and held it still for a few seconds before striking the tree once again. Once her hand made contact, the bark on the tree was cracked off as a small indentation could be seen in the remainder.

“I think…I think I just got it!” she softly exclaimed.

“Really?”

“It wasn’t exactly like Cologne showed me, but I think I’ve gotten a better grasp of it now,” Videl stated shaking out her hand.

“Well just keep at it and before long, you’ll be able to go full blast with that move in no time,” Gohan encouraged.

“Who says I can’t right now?” Videl challenged, her expression becoming briefly mischievous.

“Huh?”

Videl closed her eyes and raised her energy again until she was at full power. “Videl, what are you doing?” alarmed Gohan.

“You said I was using too much power for my arms to handle…” Videl took a crouched fighting stance before lunging at the tree yet again, this time launching a knee strike. “…but what about my legs!?”

Videl drove her knee into the trunk of the tree and as soon as she impacted with it, the bark was full on blasted away while a deep circular indent could be seen deep within the trunk.

Gohan was taken aback by Videl’s zealous surprise attack from her spike in energy to the splinters flying all around. Once the initial shock wore off however, Gohan’s surprised face became an expression of awe.

“That was amazing Videl!” Gohan praised. His kind words were paused by the sight of Videl falling to the ground, as her legs seemed to quiver before giving out. “Videl are you alright?” Gohan asked as he dashed over to set her down gently.

“I’m fine…just…I think I might’ve overdid it a little,” she strained as she lightly massaged her thigh.

As Gohan took the moment to examine Videl as she recuperated, the girl in question continued.

“You really weren’t kidding when you said I should dial back the power. I used the move just once and my leg already feels like gelatin.”

Gohan chuckled. “Think it’s time to take a break.”

“Agreed.”

[Several minutes later]

The two laid down beside each other as a light breeze began to blow throughout the field, reveling in the melancholy calm.

“You know, thinking to try the technique with your legs was actually pretty clever. I was pretty amazed when you managed to pull it off at full power on your first try.”

Videl shot Gohan a grateful smile. “Thanks Gohan, but I think I’ll take your advice and try using less energy for now. My leg is still tingling from before,” she raised her knee up to her chest as if to emphasize her point. “No pain no gain I guess.”

“Don’t beat yourself up Videl, you _are_ still new to this. The fact that you managed to improve this much in such a short amount of time really says a lot,” Gohan said in a consoling tone.

“You’re just saying that.”

“No I mean it. You learned to fly on your first day, mastered it in a week and a half, and after just some basic training, you’re already making considerable progress in utilizing energy offensively. You have a greater knack for this sort of thing than I realized, and I think Ms. Cologne sees it too. I don’t think she would’ve agreed to train you otherwise, no matter what kind of deal you two set.”

Videl’s face became a light scarlet at Gohan’s compliments. “Thanks Gohan, and to spare you the trouble of telling me this, I know I still have a long way to go before I’m actually good at this energy stuff…which is why…!”

Videl stood up and looked down at Gohan with a stern expression on her face. “…I want to have a match with you!” she proclaimed.

“Wait, what?”

“Come on Gohan. It’s been forever since we last sparred, and the more I train, the easier it’ll be for me to use energy going forward, so let’s go!” Videl requested.

“Well…” Gohan was hesitant to response, but then he recalled the promise he made to himself. Getting to his feet, Gohan nodded his affirmation and dropped into a defensive stance. “Alright Videl, show me what you’ve got.”

Videl gave an anticipated grin before closing her eyes and raising her energy. After a few seconds of powering up, Videl’s eyes snapped open, and she dashed forward throwing a solid punch towards Gohan who easily avoided it. Videl quickly followed up with a second punch from her opposite hand which Gohan deflected before blocking a follow-up kick attack.

As the two struggled against each other, Gohan flashed her an impressed smile.

“Wow, I think you’ve gotten a bit faster too,” he praised.

“You ain’t seen nothing yet!”

Videl brought her leg back and threw a second kick at Gohan who swayed away from it. Videl zipped after Gohan launching a volley of punches that Gohan effortlessly avoided. As Gohan continued to dodge, Videl steadily but surely became more and more frustrated at Gohan’s lack of retaliation.

Determined to get him to fight back, Videl flipped over in midair and launched an axe kick at Gohan’s head. Prepared to take her strike, Gohan countered by shoving his forearm against Videl’s foot, knocking her off balance. As Videl tried to steady herself, Gohan finally went on the offensive and launched a palm strike at Videl, getting her right below the chest and blowing her back, the wind knocked out of her.

Videl began to cough vigorously as she tried to catch her breath and recover from Gohan’s attack. “Videl are you alright!?” called a concerned Gohan.

“I’m fine,” Videl assured, clearing her throat. “But now it’s my turn!”

Videl ascended into the air and divebombed at Gohan, cupping her hands together at her sides. As she approached the now defensive Gohan, she began to channel her energy into both of her hands. Gohan took note of Videl’s increase in energy and raised an eyebrow.

‘Is she trying to use Ms. Cologne’s technique on me? Regardless, I’d better brace myself.’

Gohan crossed his arms in front of his upper body as Videl flew within striking distance. Throwing both of her hands forward, Videl’s palms collided with Gohan and the young Saiyan was lightly pushed back by a small, yet still considerable force accompanied by a bright flash of light.

When the light finally died down, Gohan stared shockingly at Videl as the anxious girl hit the ground, her body visibly shaking.

“Videl!”

“Okay…that was a bad idea…” Videl strained out, her body quivering.

“Hey, are you two alright out here?”

Gohan and Videl both turned back to see a flash of bright colored cloth hiding behind the bushes.

“Dad!?”

Sure enough, the elder Saiyan stood before the young couple in his farming outfit with a look of surprise similar to that of his son

“Dad, when did you get here?” asked Gohan.

“Just now. Your mom asked me to come get you two for dinner, but man…it looks like you two went a little overboard. What kind of training were you guys doing anyway?”

“We were just sparring a little and Videl tried to use a special technique. I think she may have done it incorrectly though,” Gohan answered.

“What special technique?” asked Goku.

“It’s a move where you hold your energy inside and release it at the exact moment you make contact with your opponent.” Gohan explained.

“Really?”

Gohan stepped over to Videl and knelt down beside his still straining girlfriend before helping her up to her feet. “Yeah, the problem is, Videl keeps releasing her energy too soon. I told her to try using less energy, but when we started sparring, she went all in. I guess using that much power must’ve taken its toll.”

“I see,” Goku stated. He gave Videl a quick once over before placing two fingers on his forehead. “Hang tight you two, I’ll be right back.” Goku vanished before either of them could get a word in.

As Videl leaned against Gohan in order to maintain her balance, Goku reappeared less than a minute later. “I’m back!” he announced.

“Where’d you go Dad?”

“I just popped back home to grab a Senzu Bean,” Goku answered holding out his palm. “I had a couple left back from when we fought that giant bug monster thing. Glad I kept them in an easy to find place.”

Videl extended a shaky hand to grab the bean from Goku, and a s fast as her aching body could, heartily shoved it into her mouth. After a few harsh chews, Videl stood up straight and stretched her arms out.

“Phew…that’s much better. Thanks Goku.” Thanked Videl.

“No problem, but man. I didn’t know Gohan was showing you how to use energy _attacks_ now,” Goku replied.

Gohan let out a sheepish chuckle. “Well… I’m not exactly the one teaching her per say,” he awkwardly admitted. “There’s actually a funny story behind that.”

“What story?”

Videl went on to remind Goku of her impending battle with Ryoga and proceeded to give a cliff-notes version of her encounters with Cologne as well as her attempts at using the Point of Impact technique. When she finished her tale, Goku placed a contemplative hand on his chin.

“Wow, so this Colon lady’s the one who’s been teaching you how to use energy?”

“It’s ‘Cologne’ Dad,” Gohan corrected.

“Oh, right.”

Videl nodded. “Cologne’s been helping me build my body up so I’d have the energy to use the move, but now that were past the initial buildup, I’ve just been having a bit of trouble perfecting it,” Videl explained.

“Well, it sounds to me like you need to build yourself up just a _little_ more. Goku suggested.

“So I’ve heard,” Videl sarcastically muttered.

”If you two just keep at it, I’m sure you’ll figure it out sooner or later,” Goku encouraged. “In the meantime, I wanna know more about this Colon lady and what kind of training you did with her Videl.”

“Cologne Dad,” Gohan corrected again.

Videl shrugged. “Well for the most part, it was just some kind of tricked out weight training. Basically, I was a waitress at her restaurant, but I had to wear this REALLY heavy uniform that would get lighter the more my strength, and by extension my energy increased.”

“Really? That sounds just like when Krillin and I trained under Master Roshi,” Goku replied with a nostalgic tone in his voice.

“Oh yeah…” Gohan interjected. “I remember you and Krillin both told me that you used to do construction and yard work while wearing heavy turtle shells.”

“That’s right. I guess sometimes you just can’t beat the classics,” grinned Goku.

“OH!” Videl suddenly exclaimed. “Speaking of Master Roshi, that reminds me. One of the conditions that Cologne agreed to train me was if I could introduce her to him. Apparently, she knows about the Turtle School, but never met him in person, and she really wants to for some reason.”

“Really?”

Videl nodded. “She also knows about you and the others from your Tournament appearances. I guess you could say she’s something of a fan.”

“Wow…I don’t think we’ve ever had a fan before…” Goku chuckled scratching his head.

“What about the announcer from the tournament?” interjected Gohan.

“Oh yeah. I almost forgot about him.” As the trio let out a quick group laugh, a low rumbling sound interrupted it.

“Dad…” Gohan groaned.

“Sorry son but talking about a restaurant just made me even hungrier.”

“I’m kind of hungry too actually,” added Videl.

“Well then, let’s head home. I’m sure Chi-Chi’s gotta be done cooking by now.”

Goku placed two fingers on his forehead and motioned for the younger couple to come along. After focusing for a few seconds, the trio disappeared and reappeared right outside the Paouzu Mountain home.

Before they could step inside however, Videl’s phone began to ring.

“Who is it?” asked Gohan.

Taking one look at the phone, Videl’s eyes lit up. “It’s Akane!”

“Who?”

“That girl who came to visit us last week?” Gohan reminded his father.

“Oh yeah! She was friends with that girl who turned into a boy right?”

“It’s actually the other way around Dad,” Gohan corrected.

“Ahem!” Videl loudly cleared her throat, getting the two saiyans to silence themselves.

“Right…we’ll wait for you inside.” Gohan darted inside the house, pulling Goku along as Videl finally answered the phone.

“Hello?”

_“Videl?”_

“Hey Akane. What’s up?”

“Nothing much, just missed you at the Cat Café today.”

“Sorry I ‘flaked’ on you, but I decided to train with Gohan today since I figured he could help me figure this ‘Point-of-Impact’ move out.”

“No worries, I was just curious.”

Videl could note a small hint of disappointment in Akane’s voice. ‘Guess she really wants to be a part of this.’ A smile forming on her face, Videl continued.

“You know, if you still want to help, come down to my place later tonight.” Videl offered.

“Really?”

“Yeah, just the two of us. Gohan said I needed to build myself up a little more, and I can’t think of a better sparring partner.”

“Sounds great. Besides, I just remembered that I need to pay you back for beating me before,” a smug Akane replied.

“You’re welcome to try anytime, but don’t get your hopes up.”

“We’ll see.”

“See you tonight?”

“I’ll be there.”

As soon as Videl beeped off her phone, Chi-Chi poked her head out the door. “Videl, what are you still doing out here? Aren’t you staying for dinner?”

“Oh! Sure,” she replied entering. “Actually Chi-Chi, could you make a couple of boxes to go? It turns out I’m going to have company tonight,” Videl replied.

“Oh? Who?”

“Someone you’ve met before.”

[Meanwhile]

Akane hung up the phone and quickly made her way upstairs to grab her gi.

“And where are you off to little sister?” asked a nosy Nabiki.

“Videl’s place. She invited me back to train with her again!” Akane excitedly replied.

“That’s great. Should I tell Ran-?”

“NO!” Akane quickly cut off her eldest sister. “Don’t tell Ranma! Videl’s not bringning Gohan either cause this is supposed to be just the two of us.”

“Geeze Akane. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you had a little crush on little Ms. Satan.” Nabiki teased.

“Keep talking like that and we’ll see who gets crushed,” Akane deadpanned.

“You don’t have the gall.”

Huffing at her sister, Akane quickly darted upstairs and in a few short minutes raced back down with her gi and an extra change of clothes.

“Catch you later!” Akane called slamming the door shut.

“Well, someone’s in high spirits,” noted Nodoka.

“It’s nice that Akane has a friend with so many common interests,” added Kasumi.

“More like someone she can complain to about Ranma,” Nabiki snarked.

[Back at Mt. Paouzu]

Gohan and Videl were right outside the domed home, the latter with a pair of bento boxes all wrapped up, and her trusty jet un-capsulized. Given how far away Mt. Paouzu was from Satan City, she really needed the speed.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to go with you?” asked Gohan.

“Thanks for the offer Gohan, but this time it’s just going to be me and Akane. No offense, but if I still have to raise my power, I think she’s the best sparring partner for me.”

“I understand.”

“Don’t sound so disappointed Gohan. I’ll be back soon enough. Akane may be my favorite sparring partner, but you’re still the best teacher.”

“Gee thanks,” Gohan chuckled. “I wish you could’ve stayed a little longer for dinner at least.”

“Well, I’m taking some of your mom’s cooking with me, so it’s not all bad,” Videl said loading the food into her plane.

“Yeah, I guess. When’d you say you were coming back again?”

As she fired up the engines, Videl put a hand to her chin. “Hmmmm…don’t know, but whenever I decide, I’ll let you know at school.”

“Okay then. See you tomorrow.” Gohan waved.

“Bye sis!” Goten exclaimed darting out of the door.

“Goten, I told you to wait inside!” Gohan exclaimed narrowing his eyes at his brother.

“But I wanted to say goodbye to Videl…”

The yellow aircraft ascended into the sky and Videl waved back to the brothers below, as well as giving a quick two-finger salute to Goku who was waving from the window. In a fiery burst, Videl sped off for home.

[Later that evening]

The sound of frantic pantic could be heard through the streets of Satan City as one Akane Tendo ran hurriedly to the Satan Manor.

‘Should I…really be rushing like this…?’ Akane wondered. ‘Videl said she was at Gohan’s place when I called…and that place is…thousands of miles away…could she really…get back home…so quickly?’ she thought between pants.

As if to answer her question, Videl’s familiar jet could be seen zooming overhead. “Whooo…what are the odds?” Akane exhaled.

Taking a deep breath, Akane continued up the street until she finally arrived at Satan Manor right as Videl was capsulizing her jet.

“H-hey…Videl…!” Akane panted out.

“Akane?”

Turning to her friend, Videl laid eyes on a girl breathing hard, and drenched with a thin layer of sweat.

“Geeze Akane, did you sprint here or something? Why are you all exhausted!?”

“No I…wait…no wait, I think I did sprint here,” Akane replied after finally catching her breath.

“You think?”

“I was _planning_ on taking the bus, but I didn’t want to wait so when I ran to try and catch it…I think I just kept going until I got here.”

Videl shook her head dismissively and snickered. “I’ve seen people run to catch a bus before but ignoring the bus altogether for such a long trip is a new one.”

Akane put her hands on her hips and stood triumphantly. “You got to work with Gohan earlier, so just consider that my warm-up.”

“Fair enough.” Videl giggled.

The two girls stalked towards the door, but just as Videl was about to grab the knob, there was the sound of a loud crash followed by loud barking.

“Bee!?”

“What’s he barking for?”

Videl frantically opened the door and darted inside. When…

“Gyaaaaaaaaaagh!”

**_CRASH!_ **

As soon as Videl stepped through the door, she was met with the sight of a tall-ish guy who looked around her age, wearing martial arts robes with a bamboo sword in his hand get launched into a wall.

“What…what the hell was that?”

“K-Kuno!?”

Videl turned to Akane who had a look of restrained irritation on her face.

“You know him?”

Before Akane could answer, the barking resumed as Bee ran up, followed closely by Buu.

“Hmm? Why stick boy no play anymore?” asked Buu.

“Buu?”

The pink blob turned towards the sound of his name being called and shot Videl an inviting smile. “Oh! Satan’s daughter is back!”

Akane on the other hand had a look of pure bewilderment on her face. First Kuno appears unannounced, and now…who or what is this pink guy, and how does Videl know him.

“Buu…haaa…wait up…!” came the winded voice of an older man.

All eyes turned to the hallway to see a dark-skinned man with an afro in a brown gi enter the room.

“Dad?”

“Oh…hey honey…when did you…get back…?” Mr. Satan wheezed out before falling face first onto the floor.

“Dad!”

The heir to the champ quickly rushed to her father’s side while Akane remained still with the ever-present look of confusion on her face.

“What the hell’s going on here?”

 

  1. **A/N: I didn’t realize this until about halfway through the chapter, but I think I low key turned Videl into Full Cowl Deku.**




	28. Mr. Satan's Disciples

** My Life’s Stranger Than Yours **

_ Satan’s Disciples; Meet Kuno and Majin Buu _

Both Buu and Akane turned to Videl who was vigorously shaking her father’s body, attempting to get him back on his feet. It took a couple of minutes, but Mr. Satan finally found the strength to push himself onto all-fours.

“Oh good, you’re alright,” Videl relieved.

“Hey Honey…” Mr. Satan wheezed out. “Where’d Buu go…?”

“I’m here.” The pink demon simply stated.

“Take it easy Dad,” Videl ordered as she helped him to his feet. “Buu, can you keep an eye on him for a sec while I grab some water?”

“Oh…okay!” Buu agreed.

“Thank you.” Before Videl could make a mad dash for the kitchen, she quickly noticed the bewildered look on Akane’s face. “Okay…I’m sure you’ve got a few questions, and I promise I’ll answer them as soon as I help my Dad recover,” Videl pleaded.

“Okay…” Akane nearly deadpanned.

“Inversely, I have a question or two for you too,” Videl added.

Videl’s words were swiftly drowned out by a gruff yelp. Turning towards the sound, the girls witnessed Buu hoist Mr. Satan over his head and stroll into the living room, Bee right behind.

Akane could only sigh. “I guess I should at least bring this moron with them,” she said motioning to Kuno.

‘‘This moron’’? Videl decided to make a mental note of that.

As Videl dashed off to the kitchen, Akane went over to the unconscious Kuno and slung him over her shoulder before making her way to the living room. Where she spied Mr. Satan still breathing deeply as he lay on the sofa.

“Thanks Buu…don’t know what I would’ve done without you.”

“Is Mr. Satan okay?” Buu asked.

“I’ll be fine…just wish Videl would hurry up with that water. By the way…did you see where Tatewaki went?”

The champ received his answer as Akane finally entered the room with Kuno on her back. “He’s right here,” she stated.

“We-he-hell, now who might you be? One of Videl’s friends?” Mr. Satan asked Akane with a surprising note of vigor.

Akane nodded. As she tossed Kuno onto the nearest sofa before dusting herself off, a frantic Bee, quickly ran up to Akane and stood on his hind legs attempting to lick her face.

“It’s great to see you again too Bee-!” Akane giggled as she was assaulted by dog kisses.

“Well, looks like someone’s taken an early likin’ to you, young lady,” Mr. Satan noted.

Buu on the other hand merely watched as the dog happily barked and zoomed around the overwhelmed girl.

“We’ve met before,” Akane informed. Lightly shoving Bee off her, Akane bowed and introduced herself.

“My name’s Akane Tendo, and I’m a martial artist at the Tendo Training Hall in Nerima,” she said with a bow.

Mr. Satan let out a hearty chuckle before getting to his feet and puffing out his chest in his trademark (faux) courageous fashion.

“Oh-ho, you’re a fellow martial artist, eh’? Well then, allow me to formerly welcome you into our humble abode. The home of the World Martial Arts Champion, MR. SATAN!”

Once the champ was done with his spiel, Akane cold only stand in unreadable shock and awe, the atmosphere in the room quickly dying.

“Dad…please stop.”

Before Mr. Satan could give continue, Videl returned with a large sports bottle in hand.

“Oh Videl, there you are. I was just about to introduce your friend here to Buu, since it seems she’s already been acquainted with Bee here,” he said stroking the dog’s head.

“Yeah, she’s visited before when you two were out,” Videl added, tossing her father the bottle.

Hearty gurgling could be heard as Mr. Satan seamlessly unscrewed the cap and chugged the entire bottle of water in no time flat.

“Ahhhhh, that hit the spot. You always gotta remember to stay hydrated when you’re pumpin’ iron! DAHAHAHA!”

Akane stifled a laugh as Videl crossed her arms with a red tint on her face. “Dad, guest!”

“Oh! Of course.” He quickly fixed himself while clearing his throat.

With a sheepish chuckle, Videl quickly stepped in between Akane and her father. “Well, now you’ve met my Dad, so what’s say we head to the dojo now, huh?”

“What, aren’t you going to introduce me to…?” Akane motioned to Buu who was still giving Akane an observant look.

Videl sighed. There was no running away from this meeting, but maybe she could keep things from going haywire. Clearing her throat, Videl slipped besides Buu and playfully leaned against him.

“This big guy here is Majin Buu, he’s our _houseguest_ ,” Videl annunciated.

Akane looked at Videl with a raised eyebrow at first, but after some brief thought she quickly understood what Videl was getting at. ‘Wait that’s right! She said something about an unusual houseguest when I first visited her place. Is this who she was talking about?’

Knocking Videl off of his body, the unusually quiet Buu slowly approached an uncomfortable looking Akane.

“Buu, what are you doing?” Videl asked with small alarm in her voice.

Akane took a cautious step back as the rotund demon stood, nearly towering over her.

“Uhhh…nice to meet you?” Akane awkwardly stated.

Buu looked Akane dead in the eye before flashing her a playful grin. “Are you strong?”

“Huh?”

“Mr. Satan say you a fighter.”

Akane shot Buu a befuddled look before putting her hands on her hips and replying, “Yeah, I’m a martial artist and I’m pretty strong I’d say.”

Buu turned back towards the dog and let out a grin. Always at his friend’s beck and call, Bee wasted no time in running right up to Buu and pawing against his large frame.

“You want play with Buu and Bee? Bee play with stick boy but stick boy to weak to play with Buu.”

Akane turned back and as she saw Kuno’s snoozing form, things started to fit together. ‘I’m guessing Kuno tried to fight this guy for some reason and got his butt kicked.’

Videl quickly stepped in between Buu and Akane and hastily tried to diffuse his sudden interest in Akane.

“Actually Buu, if you’ve been ‘playing’ all day, then I guess you must be pretty hungry right about now, right?”

“Hmmmm?”

‘What is she doing?’

As Akane was still trying to process the current events, Kuno began to stir from his slumber.

“By the gods…what happened…?” he muttered to himself.

‘The last thing I remember was seeing some pink demon accompanied with his hellhound. Afterwards, everything’s a blank.’

As he shook his head, and his vision came back into focus, Kuno’s eyes widened at the sight of a terrible scene. The pink demon from his memories had returned, but this time not only was his beastly cohort with him again, they both had the object of his affection backed against a corner. In between them, however, was the metaphorical ‘X’ at the end of his long hunt.

Pulling his bamboo sword from seemingly nowhere, Kuno sprang from his resting place on the couch and launched himself at Buu (and the girls) poised to strike.

“You will keep your vile mittens away from these fair maidens you HEATHEN!”

Before any of the humans could process what was happening, Kuno was halted in his tracks by a palm to the face courtesy of Buu.

“Oh! Stick boy all better now?”

Kuno failed to answer as he once again hit the floor hard face first (though Buu hadn’t really hit him that hard).

“Kuno, are you okay?”

At the sound of Akane’s voice, Kuno recovered near instantly and proceeded to throw himself at his charge with wide open arms. “Oh Akane Tendo! I should’ve known it would take only the mere sight of you to restore me to my full strength.”

_SWACK!_

“The feeling’s less than mutual,” Akane responded with a fist to the chin.

“Oh, you two are acquainted?” asked Mr. Satan.

“Right, you said something about that earlier Akane,” Videl added.

Akane sighed. “He’s an upperclassman at my high-.”

Akane’s explanation was cut off by Kuno once again launching himself at Buu. Kuno’s weapon made contact with Buu this time and promptly bounced off his rubbery frame. Kuno continued to strike Buu repeatedly until the pink majin launched yet another palm strike to the young swordsman’s midsection, launching him into a wall yet again.

“Must…defeat…pink…demon…!” Kuno strained whilst picking himself up and taking a defensive stance.

‘This guy’s a glutton for punishment, isn’t he?’ Videl whispered.

‘You have no idea,’ Akane replied.

It was at that moment Mr. Satan decided to put a stop to the charade. “Okay, okay, that’s enough of that. Tatewaki, I’m orderin’ you to stand down.”

“But Master…!”

“Master!?” exclaimed the girls.

“You heard me.”

With a huff, Kuno dropped his stance and, leaning his sword against the wall, crossed his arms.

Mr. Satan then turned to Buu. “Hehehe, Buu I’m glad you’ve been givin’ Tatewaki here a good ol’ workout, but I think it’s time to stop playin’ for now. Why don’t you head to the kitchen for now? I’m sure the chefs have already gotten dinner started.”

“Ohh! Okay!” With a gleeful expression, Buu skipped out of the room with Bee right behind him.

“Astounding…” marveled Kuno.

 ‘Phew, glad that’s done,’ Mr. Satan sighed. ‘That could’ve gone bad real quick.’ Before Mr. Satan could dwell on the thought too long, he was grabbed by the collar and yanked away by Kuno.

“Master, please tell me, how could you tame such a malevolent creature!?”

Beads of sweat began to roll down Mr. Satan’s head. “Uhhh well…” he stammered.

“Oh, my apologies.” Kuno released his grip on Mr. Satan and took a step backwards in order to give his ‘Master’ the necessary breathing room.

Mr. Satan cleared his throat and replied. “Well, you know what they say my boy, “You should never judge a book by its cover. That ‘malevolent creature’ as you called him, is actually one of my older disciples.”

“Is that…is that true?” Kuno asked in pure amazement.

“Yes it is boy, and now that you’ve seen his astounding strength up close, you now have another goal to work towards. After all, a martial artist must always work towards gaining more and more strength!”

Mr. Satan capped off his spiel with his trademark hearty laugh as Kuno proceeded to bow in respect to the champion fighter.

From watching Buu and Bee exit to Mr. Satan and Kuno’s exchange, Akane’s bewildered expression said it all. “I…have so many questions…”

“I promise I’ll answer them as best as I can, but first…” Videl stomped over to her father who was still laughing nigh hysterically. His laugh was subsequently silenced by Videl pulling him aside, by the ear.

“Gah-ow! H-hey sweety. What can I do you for?”

“Hey Dad, can I ask you something real quick?”

“Yes?”

“Since when did you decide to take on another ‘disciple’?”

“Oh!” Mr. Satan cleared his throat. “That’s right, you haven’t been properly introduced yet. Tatewaki please,” he motioned to Kuno.

The arrogant kendoist stood firm and brandished his sword on his shoulder. “Actually, I’m well acquainted with Ms. Akane here, as she is my junior at school.”

‘They’re school mates? That makes sense.’ thought Videl.

“Although…” Kuno brushed past Akane until he was standing face to face with Videl who now had a bewildered look on her face.

“What are you…?”

“I’ve witnessed your formidable skills as a martial artist before, and I must say it is an honor to finally meet you at last,” Kuno said taking Videl by the hands.

Videl hurriedly pulled away from Kuno’s grasp. “I’m always happy to meet a fan, but what do you think you’re doing?” she firmly snapped.

Akane facepalmed. ‘Dammit! I forgot about that!’ she chided herself.

“Whoa there boy,” Mr. Satan interjected. “Videl appreciates her fans as much as the next gal, but you really should be more respectful when addressing my daughter, you hear me?”

Kuno stood at attention and instantly put a few inches of distance between himself and Videl. “She’s your daughter!? Please forgive my hastiness Master and allow me to introduce myself properly.”

AKane rolled her eyes as Kuno cleared his throat and began his introduction.

“I am Tatewaki Kuno, aged 17 years old, and the head of Furinkan High’s Kendo Club. Also known as Furinkan’s Blue Thunder!” Kuno accompanied his proclamations with a small series of kendo stances, not unlike the poses of a certain helmeted superhero.

An embarrassed bead of sweat rolled down Videl’s forehead before Kuno continued.

“Although most recently, I have humbly become the student of the Mighty Mr. Satan himself!” Kuno proudly proclaimed with a nostalgic sigh. “Yes, I remember it like it was merely a day ago.

_[Flashback]_

_Kuno could be seen on the receiving end of a nigh merciless beatdown by Ranma before being launched away by a fierce uppercut._

**_“It was a random day at school where I clashed with that miscreant Ranma Saotome. My memories of our battle are more than a little hazy, but the last thing I remember seeing is Master’s silhouette.”_ **

_Kuno could then be seen limping through Satan City, his sword being used as amakeshift crutch. Finally, the bamboo weapon snapped and Kuno fell to the ground face first in front of Mr. Satan’s dojo which was at the time still under renovations following its ‘vandalism’ attack._

_A short while later, Kuno awoke finding himself on a sofa, striped down to his shorts with bandages covering much of his upper body. Before he could ask what had happened, one of the staff medics stepped through the door._

_“Oh, you’re awake.” Said the medic. “Hey sir, the kid’s awake!” the medic quickly called out._

_“You there, where am I?” Kuno asked._

_“Oh you’re in the dojo break room. Mr. Satan said it’d be fine for you to rest here while your body recovered.” Informed the medic._

_“Dojo? Mr. Satan?” asked Kuno._

_Before the medic could continue, the champ himself strolled into the room. “Well now, glad to see you’re up and around kid. You gave us quite the scare there.”_

_“I take it you’re the one who took me in?” Kuno inquired._

_“Indeed,” chimed the medic. “We were about to shut our doors for the evening, but just as Mr. Satan was about to head out, he found you passed out on the doorstep and quickly brought you inside for treatment.”_

_“How could I not? You looked like you’d been run over by a motorbike there, kid.” Said Mr. Satan._

_Kuno let out a cocky scoff. “Ha, no mere two-wheeled vehicle could fell Furinkan High’s Blue Thunder.”_

_“Well somethin’ clearly did, or else you wouldn’t have been hurt as bad as you were there,” Mr. Satan countered, crossing his arms._

_Kuno clenched his fist. “Yes…my most mortal of adversaries, a brute of a man named Ranma Saotome.”_

_“Is that so?”_

_Dismissing the medic, Mr. Satan pulled up a chair. “Why don’t you tell me more about this Ramen’ fella.”_

**_“So, I informed Master of my various bouts with Saotome, as well as his various misdeeds against Ms. Akane Tendo. When all was said and done, Master looked nearly as livid as I felt.”_ ** _Kuno continued to narrate._

**_After hearing of my perilous plight, It was then that Master offered me a place as one of his pupils. Initially, I was deeply flattered, but not too interested as I was a man of the sword. I didn’t believe that a dojo that specialized in unarmed combat would be too helpful for me. Until master brought up a great point; in order to master one’s weapon, one first must master his body. Then, in a way to show his appreciation for assisting me in one of my most dire times of need, I humbly accepted his proposal. He even offered to start my training effective immediately. Although, our first lesson was…complicated to say the least._ **

_Kuno thought back to how when he first stepped forth into the ‘dojo’ part of the dojo, much of the area was still surrounded by ‘CAUTION’ tape and various other signs of construction. Thankfully, there was still enough free space available to get training done, but this did sour Kuno’s previously cheerful mood._

**_“I greatly dishonored Master’s school when I brought up how unsightly the place had appeared. I admit, I feel ashamed at myself for jumping to conclusions, because he then told me the story of how some mysterious assailant had appeared and nearly tore his prized school to the ground. I felt so guilty that as a token of apology, I offered to donate a sizable amount of money to the reconstruction of Master’s dojo._ **

_The final memory was of Kuno bowing his head in respect as Mr. Satan told the story of the dojo’s near destruction followed by a quick image of the two of them shaking hands._

_[End Flashback]_

“From that point on, Master has been working with me one-on-one in order to improve my body’s physical capabilities.”

Though initially uninterested in Kuno’s ‘backstory’, the girls had been paying attention as the story was the answer to their previous questions. Kuno’s melodramatic storytelling even served to make it a more enjoyable experience than it had any right to be.

“So, the reason Dad hasn’t been home as often lately was not just because of the dojo repairs, but because he was also training with you?” asked Videl.

“Correct,” answered Kuno.

‘Part of me is surprised Kuno decided to train seriously. I wonder…could his work with Mr. Satan actually put him on par with Ranma?’ Akane wondered.

“I’ve applied his teachings to my own sword technique, and it feels like his lessons are beginning to bear fruit.” Kuno finished, thrusting his sword onto the floor. “Which brings us to a most glorious opportunity.”

Kuno thrust his sword towards Videl (A/N: Goodnight Everybody!) coupled with a look of determination plastered on his face.

“I would like to request a match with you Ms. Videl.” Kuno proclaimed.

“She refuses.”

All eyes were on Akane accompanied with a unified “What!?”

Grabbing Videl by the arm, Akane quickly excused the two of them and zipped out of the room.

“Akane, what the heck was that all about?” asked Videl.

“Videl, DON’T accept his challenge, trust me!” Akane pleaded.

“Why? You don’t think I can beat him?” Videl snapped with her arms crossed.

“Quite the opposite actually. I’m 90% sure that you’ll beat him easily, but-!”

“Then what’s the problem? A quick match against someone more my level is why I invited you over today, but what’s the harm in switching sparring partners from time to time?” Videl paused before realization struck her face. “Wait, are you still upset that you missed me at the Cat Café earlier?” Videl guessed.

Akane’s face briefly blushed, but she quickly dismissed the notion. “Videl, listen to me! It’s not a matter of winning or losing, or the Cat Café, or anything like that!” Akane bellowed. “I’m saying you shouldn’t fight Kuno because-!”

“Hey Videl, should we take your friend’s answer as yours or have you reconsidered Tatewaki’s offer?” Mr. Satan called from inside the room.

Videl placed a hand on Akane’s shoulder. “I’m sorry if you feel I’ve been ignoring lately, and I promise once this match is over, it’ll just be the two of us for the rest of the night. We can spar privately, I’ll answer any question I can about Buu, because I imagine you have quite a few, and we can chat over a couple of plates of Chi-Chi’s cooking, how does that sound.”

Akane could only sigh as she walked away. “I’m going to get changed. I’ll meet you guys at the gym.”

“That’s the spirit, and who knows. Maybe my match with Kuno can help me figure out something about Cologne’s technique,” Videl added.

“You do you, BUT…!” Akane paused. “You are NOT allowed to say, I didn’t try to warn you!” Akane vigorously pointed her finger at Videl.

“Warn me?” Videl raised an eyebrow. “Warn me about what?”

Akane only shot Videl a look of combined smugness and pity before walking away leaving Videl with a bewildered look on her face. Deciding to brush off Akane’s words for now, Videl quickly re-entered the living room with a determined look on her face.

“Where’d your friend go?” asked Mr. Satan.

“She left to go change. As for your earlier question, I accept your challenge Kuno!” Videl triumphantly declared.

“Wonderful!” Kuno exclaimed.

“Heh, heh, that’s my girl! Taking on all comers, just like her old man!” Mr. Satan bellowed.

Kuno rested his bamboo sword on his shoulder. “I’ve seen your skills captured on film before, but I’m looking forward to seeing them up close and in person.”

“I’ll try to live up to your expectations,” Videl taunted.

“Indeed you shall, and once our fierce battle is done, if you should happen to defeat me, then I will do you the great honor of allowing you to go out on a date with me!”

All the competitive tension in the room instantly drained at Kuno’s proclamation. The father-daughter duo remained silent before replying to the cocky swordsman with a unified, “…Say what?”

**PS: Commissions are open. Link for info is in my profile and if anyone’s interested, DM me either on FF or Twitter. Fair warning though, do NOT commission me if you’re under 18.**

 

 

 

 


End file.
